The Sins of the Father
by Merrie
Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark and Co. to save him before it's too late. Complete.
1. Chapter One

The Sins of the Father Part I  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: All characters you recognize don't belong to me. They belong to other people with more money than me. Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late. Characters: All, Lucien Caldwell, OFC. Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, and I'm not entirely up to date on all things Smallville, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Lex/Chloe shipper, so some of that obsession may come out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.  
  
Luthor Estate grounds  
  
It was a cold and dark night, but Lucien Caldwell didn't seem to notice. All he could think of was the target. His revenge. 'They must pay. They will pay.' He thought grimly to himself. He briefly checked his notes, wanting everything to be perfect. He would track his target, find out who his friends were, where he felt safe, and at the moment of his absolute security he would make his move. 'Yes,' Lucien thought to himself. 'Soon the son will pay the price of his father's arrogance. Soon, Lex Luthor will be dead.'  
  
Days Later, the Kent farm  
  
Lex Luthor smiled as he got out of his silver Jag at the Kent's farm. He was amused by it's very quaintness each time he was here. Not enough that he wouldn't still destroy and pave over it if given the chance, but since there was no way in hell Jonathan Kent would ever agree to such a thing, he might as well appreciate it's charm. He glanced up at the slightly dimming sky, wondering just what had persuaded him to come. He knew he wouldn't be entirely welcomed by Clark's father, but that didn't stop him from coming. It was Clark, he mused. He hadn't seen Clark in almost a week and a half, and he found himself missing his one and only true friend here in Smallville. He wondered at that as he walked up to the Kent's front doorstep and raised a hand to knock. He was greeted at the door by Martha Kent, Clark's mother. "Good evening, Mrs. Kent," he said trying to keep up a good impression by his polite manner. "Is Clark here? I haven't seen him in a while and I was wondering about him."  
  
"Why yes, Lex. Come on in. He's been awfully busy with school lately, it's not surprising that you haven't seen much of him. He's up in the loft. Shall I get him?" She inquired beginning to head in that direction.  
  
"No, that's alright thank you. I'll go myself." He said.  
  
"Alright. Well, I'll be here if you boys need anything."  
  
"Thank you." 'You boys.' He thought. 'Leave it to Mrs. Kent to make me feel like a little kid again.' He found that didn't really mind it as much as he probably should. He gave a small laugh of amusement as he headed out to the loft to find Clark.  
  
Lucien found himself amused by these simple people that Lex called friends, the Kent's. 'Don't they know who and what he was? Didn't they worry that he would betray them just like his father?' Lucien supposed it didn't really matter as Lex Luthor wouldn't have the chance to betray them. He would be dead. 'In fact,' Lucien mused to himself. 'This game has gone on long enough. It's time for Mr. Luthor to die. And besides, who wouldn't want to die surrounded by friends?' Lucien would give him that. He wasn't a monster, after all. He turned to the long black case beside him and opened it. The sight of the rifle never ceased to take his breath away. Lightly running a hand down the stock, he began to assemble the pieces. "Yes, Luthor. Enjoy your time with your friends." He said with a sneer. "Because it's the last time you'll ever see them alive."  
  
Lex came upon the loft and smiled as he saw Clark looking though his telescope toward what was most likely Lana Lang's house. Lex shook his head and cleared his throat, announcing his presence. Clark turned around quickly with a decidedly guilty look on his face. "Lex, what are you doing here?" Clark asked as Lex came to stand beside him at the window.  
  
"I was in the neighborhood and decided to stop by. I haven't seen you in awhile."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I've been busy with school lately."  
  
"I know how that is." Lex said with a small smirk.  
  
"I bet you do. So how have you been?" Clark asked, but not really paying attention to Lex's answer. Instead, he was focusing on the slight bit of movement he noticed in the yard out of the corner of his eye.  
  
"Clark, are you paying attention to me?" Lex asked with a smile.  
  
"What? Sorry Lex. I thought I saw something moving in the yard."  
  
"Really? And would I see anything were I to look?" Lex asked, clearly not believing Clark's story.  
  
"Look for yourself," Clark said, moving to the side. Lex walked up the edge and squinted out into the dimming light. At that instant, all of Clark's senses went haywire as he heard the shot. Immediately, he tackled Lex to the ground. All he could do was lay there as two more shots went sailing through the air over his head. "Lex, stay down." Clark said sternly.  
  
"You don't have to tell me twice, Clark." After a few minutes, Clark's parents came running up the stairs, Jonathan in the lead with a shotgun in hand. "Dad!" Clark shouted at his father. "Just stay there. Someone is out front shooting through the window."  
  
"Are you hurt, son?" Jonathan Kent asked with a worried whisper.  
  
"I don't think so." Clark said as he checked himself over. "Lex? Are you ok?" Lex looked at him and slowly held up a hand slick with blood.  
  
"I don't know, Clark." he said slowly.  
  
"Dad! Lex is hurt!" Clark shouted.  
  
"Can you get him over here without being seen though the window?" Jonathan asked.  
  
"I think so, Dad." He said turning to Lex. "Are you ok Lex? Can you walk?"  
  
"Yes Clark. I'm ok and I can walk. I'm pretty sure it's only a minor head wound."  
  
"Alright. Now, we're going to make our way slowly toward my parents, but I have no idea if whoever did this is still out there so we're going to have to stay low. Unless you want to get shot, of corse." Clark quipped.  
  
"Very funny, Clark. You lead the way, I'll follow behind." Clark nodded and crawled toward where his father was waving him on, Lex following close behind. Upon reaching them, Martha leaned over to examine Lex. He noticed he seemed to be alright save a long gash on the right side of his head which was bleeding quite profusely.  
  
"Come with me, Lex. We need to get the bleeding stopped. I don't think you're cut too badly, but it's hard to tell. Scalp wounds always bleed quickly like that. Put your hand on it for pressure while we make our way down to the barn." Upon arrival to the barn door however, the group hesitated.  
  
"Lex, whoever is doing this must be after you otherwise we would have been shot on the way here. With that in mind, I believe that the shooter is still out there waiting for us." Jonathan said.  
  
"I agree with you Jonathan. But we can't stay here, we need to get to a phone and the only one is in the house. We have to get to it." Martha said.  
  
"Mom's right. I say we make a run for it. It's our best chance." Clark said.  
  
"Alright. On the count of three I'm going to open the barn door and we're going to run. Don't look back until you've reached the front door. Once inside, try and get to the middle of the house away from any windows. That'll keep whoever's out there from seeing what's going on. Are you all ready? Ok. One, two, three, go!" At the count, Jonathan threw open the door and the 4 of them raced to the house.  
  
After what seemed like hours, they finally reached the house and locked themselves safely inside without further incident. "We made it!" Clark shouted. "Maybe whoever was out there has left by now."  
  
"I wouldn't be on it, Clark." Lex said quietly.  
  
"I'd have to agree with Lex." Jonathan said. "We can't take any chances. We have to call the police right away."  
  
"No," Lex stated firmly. "No police. I have been in situations like this before and calling in the police does no good whatsoever. And besides, what are the police of this town going to do anyway? From what I've seen of their work, they're not known for their effectiveness."  
  
"Still, what else are we going to do? We can't stay in here forever." Clark said.  
  
"I know, but you have to trust me on this one." Lex stressed.  
  
Jonathan sighed. He didn't like it, but he was not going to get into an argument just now. "Alright, no police for now. At least let Martha take a look at your head though."  
  
Before Lex could say a word, Martha was pulling his arm and leading him into the living room where she forced him down on the couch. "You stay right here. I'm going to get the first-aid kit out of the bathroom. I'll be right back."  
  
"Ok, Lex. We won't call the police. That still doesn't stop the fact that someone is out in our front yard shooting at you. You have any enemies that I should be aware of?"  
  
Lex just looked at Clark with a wry grin. lark amended his statement. "Ok, ok," he said with a smirk. "Are you aware of any current enemy that is wanting to kill you?"  
  
"Sadly no," Lex said with a sigh. "I have no idea who's doing this. I'd tell you if I did, believe me." He looked down at his feet.  
  
"Ok," Martha said, interrupting. "Let's see if we can patch up that cut of yours, Lex." She sat down beside Lex and wiped away some of the blood that had been making its way down Lex's cheek with a damp cloth. "How did this happen?" she asked.  
  
"I'm not entirely sure. I think it's from a bullet." Lex said.  
  
"A bullet? Oh my." Martha said with a bit of a gasp.  
  
"You do know what that means, don't you Clark? It means that if you hadn't pushed me out of the way, I would be dead by now. You saved my life. Again."  
  
Clark didn't know what to say to something like that. Lex continued, "Mr. and Mrs. Kent, once again, if there is anything, and I do mean anything, that I can do for you or Clark, please don't hesitate to ask."  
  
"We'll keep that in mind, Lex. For right now I want you to stop talking and let me bandage this cut." Martha Kent said with a smile.  
  
"Yes, Mam." Lex answered and obeyed, not making a sound until Martha had finished. She laid a hand on his shoulder when he gave a small wince as she applied a bit of alcohol on a piece of gauze.  
  
"There you go, that wasn't too bad now was it?" Martha asked with a smile.  
  
"No Mrs. Kent, not at all." Lex answered with a rare smile of his own.  
  
"So Lex," Clark said, interrupting, "I assume you have a personal security force?"  
  
"Of course, Clark, dear dad wouldn't let his only heir come to any harm. It would be bad for business." He gave a cold smirk, and Jonathan and Clark exchanged a look. "I know what you're thinking though. If I have a personal security force, why don't I use them or at least call them after what's happened."  
  
"Well, yeah." Clark said, looking a bit embarrassed.  
  
"Well the thing is, I dismissed most of them." Lex said.  
  
"You what? How can you do that?"  
  
"With a lot of money." Lex replied. He continued. "I didn't want Luthor Corp employees looking after me. I didn't want them reporting back to my father at every turn, so I paid them to leave me alone and not tell my father. As far as I know, they have kept their end of the bargain. If they hadn't, my father would have made mention about it by now."  
  
"But, um, isn't that a bit dangerous? I mean, I would think someone like you would need a bit of protection. Especially after tonight? Don't you worry about something like this happening?" Clark asked.  
  
"Not really." Lex answered. "I don't mean to say that I think that it couldn't happen, it did, but I don't spend my time worrying about it. If I did, I would never get anything done. I wouldn't leave the house."  
  
"And now?" Jonathan pressed.  
  
"And now, I must say that I am not so sure. I have lived under death threats all of my life, I have grown used to them. Not that they were necessarily aimed at me personally, rather than Luthor Corp and my father. Maybe I have been a bit foolish, but I didn't want to have a group of people supposedly protecting me when they were in fact spying on me for my father. Especially if my father is the one who is doing this." Lex added quietly.  
  
"What do you mean by that?" Clark asked, having heard Lex's comment. "You don't think your father could be the one responsible for this, do you? Come on Lex. I know you two don't get along very well, but would he actually hire someone to kill you?"  
  
"If you take to heart none of the advice I have ever given you Clark, listen to this. Never underestimate a Luthor." Clark noticed that Lex didn't leave himself out of that statement.  
  
"Fine, I suppose I see your point. But that doesn't change that there is a madman out to kill you Lex. If they have gone far enough to actually take shots at you, I don't think that they will give up until you are dead."  
  
"I know." Lex said quietly.  
  
"So what are we going to do about it?" Clark asked, turning towards his father.  
  
"That I do not know, Clark. If only we had a way of knowing if the shooter was still out there." He glanced at his son, who got the message.  
  
"I-uh, I'll be right back." Clark said.  
  
"Where are you going?" Lex asked with a wary look on his face. "I hope you aren't going back outside, Clark. The shooter could still be out there."  
  
"I'm not, I'm just going upstairs to check on something. Don't worry, I won't even get near the windows. Promise." With that, he ran up the stairs. Lex turned and looked at the remaining Kents. 'Something isn't right here,' he thought. 'What are they hiding?'  
  
A/N: Hoped you all liked it. The next part should be up very, very soon. 


	2. Chapter Two

The Sins of the Father Part II  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: I'll look after them if you don't want them. Really, I will. Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark and Co. to save him before it's too late. Characters: All, Lucien Caldwell, OFC. Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, and I'm not entirely up to date on all things Smallville, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Lex/Chloe shipper, so some of that obsession may come out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Oh, and for those of you who reviewed, thank you, thank you, thank you!!! I did a little, (well, not so little actually) happy dance when I read them. You guys are great!!!!!! Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.  
  
Chapter Two  
  
'Damn it!' Lucien yelled at himself. 'You had him and you let him get away! He was in your sights, and you missed him! Damn kid! If he hadn't pushed Luthor out of the way, he would have accomplished his goal and Lex Luthor would have been dead. Lucien shook himself, forcing himself to be calm. 'It doesn't matter.' He thought with a grim smile. 'I will get another chance.' For a moment, some far away part of his brain rationally informed him that now Luthor knew that he was after him, he would most certainly heighten his security. Lucien ignored this voice, past the point of caring or even rational thought for that matter. The only thoughts that filled his mind were of the sweet feeling of revenge.  
  
Despite what he had told Lex, Clark ran immediately for the windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever had been shooting at him. He scanned the area around the farm, using his x-ray vision until he came upon a human skeleton. About 100 yards in front of his farm, a man was lying in a prone position with a rifle pointed at his front door. Clark sighed angrily. The shooter was still here, and didn't look to be leaving any time soon. Worse yet, the man had positioned himself to see all exits from the farm, and would know immediately if Lex tried to leave. Lex was trapped. Unless he wanted to be shot, he would have no choice but to stay with them tonight. "Oh man," Clark said to himself. "Dad is not going to like this."  
  
In the Kent's living room, Lex thought over Clark's strange statement. 'What could he possibly need upstairs? And why would he need it now?' He absent mindedly rubbed at his neck. 'Damn Clark is strong. I wouldn't be surprised if I had a bruise tomorrow from when he pushed me to the ground.' Now that Lex had time to breath and think, he went over what had happened. He came to a sudden disturbing realization. 'Clark knew the bullet was coming before I did. There's no way I should be alive right now. Just how many secrets does he have?' Before his mind could even try and answer that question, Clark came back downstairs. He tried to keep his face blank, but he wasn't very successful. Something was up. "Dad? Can I talk to you in the kitchen for a minute?" Lex glanced over to Mr. Kent in time to catch his reaction. A look of understanding and non-surprise passed over his face. It was almost as if he had been expecting that Clark would want to talk with him privately after coming back. What was wrong with this situation?'  
  
"Sure, Clark." He turned towards Mrs. Kent and I. "I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere." He said with a small smile. 'As if we could,' Lex thought grimly.  
  
"What is it, son?" Jonathan asked once they knew they wouldn't be overheard. "Is the shooter still out there?"  
  
"Yeah, dad. I saw him. He's in the field in front of the house, his gun aimed at our front door. He didn't seem camouflaged though, so my guess is that he'll leave after the sun comes up."  
  
Jonathan sighed. "So what you're telling me is that if Lex leaves the house tonight, he'll most likely be shot."  
  
"Yep. That seems to be the situation. Now, I know you don't like Lex dad, but we can't just let him go off into certain death, can we?"  
  
"No Clark. I wouldn't do that to anyone. Not even a Luthor. He'll have to stay here tonight." He turned to go back into the living room, Clark following behind him. Lex and Martha glanced up when they entered the room.  
  
"Lex? We all feel that the shooter is still out there, and that they were indeed aiming for you, not Clark, so I want you to stay here tonight."  
  
"No-I couldn't-" Lex started, raising a hand.  
  
"It's not an option, son. If you don't stay here, you'll most likely be shot and killed, and I could never forgive myself for allowing that to happen when I could have prevented it."  
  
"But-" Lex stuttered, secretly relieved that Jonathan would be willing to accept him into his home. A Luthor in the Kent household.  
  
"Jonathan's right, Lex. You need to stay here tonight. We have a guest room you can use. It's probably not what you're used to, but it will do for now." Martha added. "Let me get you some fresh linens from the closet."  
  
Lex didn't know what to say, so he glanced up at Clark. "Please, Lex." Clark said. "Stay with us tonight. You're my friend, and I don't want anything happening to you."  
  
"Alright. I'll stay. If you're sure I won't be causing any trouble." He glanced at Jonathan.  
  
"No, you won't cause any trouble. You may be a Luthor, but you've also been a good friend to Clark, and that's good enough for me." Jonathan gave a small smile and turned to go help his wife.  
  
"See? My dad doesn't think you're all bad." Clark said with a grin.  
  
"I don't know, Clark. I just don't feel right about staying here. How about I just go back to the mansion?"  
  
"And get shot on our front porch? I don't think so. You're staying here tonight, Lex. You might as well accept it."  
  
"Ok, ok. I won't argue. But I'm leaving tomorrow morning."  
  
"We'll see." Was all Clark would say to that. "It's late. How about we both get some sleep?"  
  
Lex glanced at his watch, noting that the time wasn't even close to when he normally went to bed, but he didn't argue. "Alright, Clark." He said, following him up the stairs to the guest room. Inside, he found Jonathan and Martha just finishing making the bed and closing the curtains.  
  
"There," Jonathan said. "As long as you stay away from the windows, I think you'll be fine for tonight. Good night Lex." Jonathan said, turning to leave.  
  
"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'm sure Clark will be able to lend you some pajamas and clothes for the morning. And tomorrow, we'll figure out what to do next. Good night." Martha said, placing a hand on Lex's shoulder. Lex flinched, but relaxed at her smile.  
  
"Good night." he said.  
  
"Let me get you some clothes." Clark said, leaving to get some from his room. He returned with a pair of flannel pajamas. "Now I know they're not silk, and they'll probably be a bit big for you, but they're clean and probably much more comfortable to sleep in than a suit. Also, here's a clean shirt for tomorrow. I don't have any pants that would fit you sorry."  
  
Lex smiled. "I'm sure they'll be fine." he said, accepting the clothes. "Good night, Clark."  
  
"Good night, Lex. If anything should happen during the night, my room is just down the hall."  
  
"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Clark turned and left, and Lex set himself to the task of changing into the overly large flannel pajamas. Lex chuckled. 'A bit big for me, huh? I'm swimming in them.' He laid his dirty clothes neatly on a chair beside the bed and turned off the light. He didn't think he would be able, but he would try and get some sleep.  
  
Clark was awoken in the middle of the night by a strange sound. He groaned and blearily looked at the clock. 3:20 am. He silently cursed. He would have to get up in a few hours anyway, but it would have been nice to sleep soundly through them. He shook his head as he heard the sound again. Curious, he got out of bed and made his way into the hallway. He followed the sound to the door of the guest room. For a minute, his sleep-fogged brain couldn't figure out why there would be sounds coming from the room. No one ever used it. It suddenly came back to him in a flash. Lex! Lex was in that room! "Lex?" He called quietly, trying not to wake his parents. There was no answer. He tried the door knob, slowly pushing the door open. "Lex? Are you ok?" Again he got no answer, so Clark made his way into the room as silently as he could. Lex was having a nightmare, that much was obvious at first sight. The blankets were all on the floor, and Lex was covered in sweat. "No," Lex mumbled, still dreaming. "Don't leave me, I'm sorry. I'll do anything you want, just don't leave me!" Clark reached a hand over on his friend's shoulder gently, not wanting to frighten him.  
  
"Lex? You're having a nightmare. Wake up." He gently shook Lex until he was greeted with a gasp and wide eyes.  
  
"Clark? What are you doing here?" Lex asked.  
  
"Quiet, we don't want to wake my parents up if they're not already. You were having a nightmare."  
  
"I was?" Lex paused, obviously remembering it.  
  
"What was it about? You were talking to yourself in your sleep."  
  
"It's nothing, Clark. I don't even remember it. You can go back to sleep, thanks."  
  
Clark didn't believe for a second that Lex was telling the truth, but he didn't want to push him. "Alright. You try and go back to sleep as well. I'll see you in the morning." He turned to leave, closing the door behind him as he went.  
  
The next morning came without further incident, but Clark couldn't stop thinking about what had happened. 'Lex obviously remembered the dream, why wouldn't he tell me about it? Does he think he's the only one who has nightmares?' Clark sighed and made his way downstairs to do his morning chores before breakfast. He found his mother in the kitchen, already up and making breakfast. Clark was sometimes amazed how she could do it every morning. "Good morning, Clark." She said, interrupting his thoughts. "Did you have a good sleep?" Clark nodded, not wanting to tell his mother about Lex's nightmare. Somehow, he figured Lex didn't want anyone to know about it. "I don't suppose Lex is up yet, is he?" she asked.  
  
Clark laughed. "Yeah right mom, he probably didn't get to sleep until late, as well. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him that I was going to bed. I don't think he's used to going to bed before the birds wake up."  
  
"No, I don't imagine he is. Well, if you do see him, tell him breakfast will be on the table in a half an hour. You might as well get to your chores. Your father is already outside." Clark nodded and figured his previous assumption about the shooter was correct. His father wouldn't have gone outside if he had still been out there. Lex was safe to leave for now, but Clark didn't think that whoever was doing this would just give up and walk away without making other plans. Clark didn't want Lex to be alone today. Pushing these thoughts away for the time being, Clark raced around to do his chores, becoming little more than a blur in the early morning light.  
  
Lex slowly awoke to the sound of knocking on the door to his temporary room. "Lex? I'm sorry to wake you, but breakfast is on the table." Clark's voice carried though the door.  
  
"Alright, I'll be down. Give me a minute." Lex replied, rubbing a hand over his face. He leaned over to pick up his watch from where he had set it the night before. 7am. He thought disgustedly. He hated getting up early, but he knew an early start would be necessary in a farming household. He groaned and got out of bed, unbidden thoughts of his nightmare disrupting his thoughts. 'I haven't had that dream in years,' he mused to himself. He shrugged it off and decided it was probably due to the stress he had experienced the previous evening. He had been nearly killed. No wonder he was having nightmares. It wouldn't have been 'nearly killed' if it hadn't been for Clark. 'Just how many times has he saved my life?' He wondered. 'At least more than once. What is his story?'  
  
He looked over the sweater Clark had left for him the night before. It would definitely be big on him, but he wouldn't have to wear it for very long anyway. He briefly thought over taking a shower, but decided it could wait until he got back to the mansion. He quickly changed back into his black dress pants, socks, and leather shoes from the night before, and pulled on the large blue sweater. Lex chuckled as the noticed how baggy it hung on him, the sleeves longer than his arms. He turned and made the bed neatly, and folded and placed the pajamas on it. He set his dirty silk shirt neatly beside it and after a quick smoothing over of his appearance, he made his way downstairs. 'That's one perk of being bald,' he thought with a small smile as he walked down the stairs, rolling the too-long sleeves up, 'no bed head in the mornings to worry about.' He found himself greeted with a scene he had only really seen on television, an entire family sitting down together for a family meal.  
  
"Good morning, Lex. Please take a seat." Martha Kent said gesturing to an empty chair next to her and Clark. A warm feeling of acceptance shot through him, and he couldn't help but grin.  
  
"Thank you, Mrs. Kent. It smells wonderful." he looked over what lay before him. Bacon, scrambled eggs, and black coffee.  
  
"I didn't know how you'd want your coffee, so I just left it black. There's cream and sugar if you want it." She said, gesturing, trying for all her might to act like there was nothing unusual at all to having him in the house.  
  
"Thank you, black will be fine. This looks excellent, thank you." Lex said as he began to eat quickly and precisely.  
  
Jonathan Kent noticed his speed, and spoke up, "Slow down, Lex. The food's not going anywhere. Do you always eat like that, or do you just want to leave?"  
  
Lex stopped eating and wiped his mouth with a napkin before speaking. "In answer to your question, I don't usually sit down to eat at all. Too much to do and too little time to do it in."  
  
"You mean you don't have family meals?" Martha asked, her voice betraying a little shock.  
  
Lex gave a small laugh at that. "Hardly ever. When I eat, it's usually in my office in front of the computer."  
  
"You mean you don't have meals with your father?" Martha pressed.  
  
"I don't see my father very often, Mrs. Kent. And when I do, it's usually for business rather than a family meal."  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry." she said quietly.  
  
"Don't be, it's not your problem." Lex said. The table sat in silence for a while as they ate.  
  
"Lex? I know we talked about this last night and you didn't agree, but I still think that we should inform the police of what is happening." Jonathan said.  
  
Lex sighed. "I know you're trying to help, Mr. Kent, but you must believe me. Calling in the police does no good whatsoever. The assassin is usually stopped, forced underground, but never caught. I'm not saying that I will keep the police out of it entirely, but for right now I have to handle things on my own."  
  
"You sound as if you've gone through this before. Is that how your mother-" Martha trailed off, not wanting to bring up a sore topic, but curiosity getting the better of her.  
  
"Yes, I have live under death threats before, and no that's not how my mother died." Lex answered quietly.  
  
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought it up." Martha said, looking down at the table.  
  
"Don't worry about it, I'm not upset. You wanted to know, so you asked. There's nothing wrong with that."  
  
"How many death threats have you lived under?" Clark asked, trying to save his mother from having to say something else.  
  
"Oh I don't know, a few." Lex said, shrugging it off.  
  
"A few as in how many?" Clark pressed.  
  
"Son-" Jonathan started.  
  
"No, it's ok, Mr. Kent. Like mother, like son. I don't mind answering their questions. I really don't." He turned to Clark. "I'm not quite sure though, Clark. A lot. I'm afraid that's the best answer I can give. I don't like to keep track of such things."  
  
"How did you live like that? Knowing someone wanted to kill you?"  
  
Lex sighed. "Unfortunately, it's one of the consequences of being the heir to something like Luthor Corp. Also, my father has managed to make quite a few enemies in his lifetime. He's not the most gentle of men as I'm sure you've realized. Some people wanted to get back at him for it. What better way than targeting Lionel Luthor's only heir? Without me, Luthor Corp would be finished."  
  
"I don't see how you can treat this like it's nothing. Aren't you angry with your father for forcing you into that position?" Clark asked.  
  
"Of course I am, Clark. But what am I going to do about it? You've seen the way people act around me because of my father. How they judge me based on what he has done."  
  
Jonathan had the good grace to look embarrassed, although Lex wasn't aiming his comment toward him. "But I can't let it get to me. I won't let it get to me. If I did, my father will have won."  
  
"I didn't know it was about winning." Clark said.  
  
"Everything between my father and I is about winning, Clark. About who has won more battles. It has been that way for a very long time. We fight and claw at each other all the time. I'm ashamed to say that that was most of the reason for my dark past. I rebelled and did the things that I did because I knew they would hurt my father. In fact, after all the shit I've pulled, I wouldn't be surprised it he kicked me out of the house and sent me away where he wouldn't have to deal with me. Oh wait, he has done that." Lex joked, trying to make light of the situation.  
  
'Why does he do that?' Clark wondered. 'He acts as if none of this is affecting him when I know it is. Why does he feel the need to hide from his emotions?'  
  
"Thank you for the meal, and for your gracious hospitality, but I must go. I have to find out who is doing this to me."  
  
"But Lex, what if the shooter is still out there?" Clark asked, trying to stall.  
  
"Oh come on, Clark. In broad daylight? And besides, your father went out this morning, didn't he?"  
  
"Yeah..." Clark answered slowly.  
  
"And he wouldn't have risked it if the shooter had still been out there, now would he?"  
  
"No, I guess not. I just don't like the fact that you're going off by yourself. I don't think this guy is going to give up after just one try. I wish I could go with you."  
  
"I do too, Clark. I feel safer with you around. You've saved my life, what, three times now? Once is pretty incredible, but three times? I may have to hire you on as a professional body guard if you keep this up. I feel like I should be paying you."  
  
Clark laughed. "It's not my fault you're a bad driver, a bad negotiator, and no one likes you."  
  
"Hey!" Lex said mock punching Clark on the shoulder.  
  
Martha and Jonathan smiled as they cleared the table. As much as anyone could say about Lex Luthor, he was good to Clark. He treated him as a confidant and friend. She just couldn't imagine what would happen to Clark if he should loose that friendship. Martha made her decision and picked up the phone.  
  
Lex put his cell phone away with a sigh. "That was my driver. He said that the limo will be here in ten minutes. I wish you were going with me, Clark, but I don't want you to miss school." He glanced at his watch. "As it stands, you'll have to leave before I do to make it on time."  
  
"No he won't." Martha said. All heads turned toward her.  
  
"What do you mean, Mom?" Clark asked on top of "What do you mean, Martha?" asked by his father.  
  
"I just got off the phone with the school. I called Clark in sick today."  
  
"You what?" Jonathan asked. "You did this without telling me?"  
  
"Jonathan, I don't want Lex to be alone right now, and I don't think you do either. I trust them to be careful."  
  
"You mean, I can go with Lex?" Clark asked, not quite believing what he was hearing. He had almost never had a parent-approved day off from school in his life.  
  
"Yes, Clark. You can go. But you must promise to call us if anything, and I do mean anything happens. I love you Clark."  
  
"I will, Mom. Don't worry. We'll be careful. I love you too." he leaned over to give her a hug.  
  
"Lex?" Martha called. He got up and went to her.  
  
"Yes?" he asked, wary.  
  
"I know I already told Clark this, but I want to reiterate it. Be careful. I expect both of you back by dinner time. Is that clear?" Martha could really on the parent voice when she wanted too, and right now she was using it for all it was worth.  
  
Lex gulped. "Yes, Mam." he said without thinking.  
  
Martha smiled at the 'Mam,' part. 'Lex's mother must have been a non nonsense woman if that's how he responds to a strong parental tone of voice. I bet I would have liked to have met her.' "Good." she said outloud. She then leaned in and gave Lex a hug as well. She felt him stiffen at the unexpected contact, but she wasn't going to let go until he relaxed a little. When he finally did, she released him. She then turned toward Jonathan. "Do you have anything to add?" she asked.  
  
"Um, no. I think that about covers it." He said slowly. Before she could respond, she was interrupted by a knocking at the front door.  
  
Lex cleared his throat and said, "That must be the limo. Goodbye Mrs. Kent, Mr. Kent. Thank you again." He glanced over at Martha. "We'll see you for dinner tonight. Coming, Clark?" He turned and left, Clark following behind, casting a slightly shocked expression at his Mother.  
  
After the front door closed, Jonathan Kent turned toward his wife. "Have I ever told you how much I admire and love you, Martha Kent?"  
  
"Yes, but it never hurts to say it again, Jonathan Kent." She said as she turned and embraced him.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Hope you liked. Please send feedback. It keeps me writing. Next chapter up soon. Also, does anyone else think Michael Rosenbaum should wear a hell of a lot more blue? I just melt when I see how it brings out his eyes. Sigh... 


	3. Chapter Three

The Sins of the Father Part III  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: If wishes were fishes, then I'd own everything Smallville. Or something like that. Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late. Characters: Any and all including Lucien Caldwell, my very own OFC. Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, and I'm not entirely up to date on all things Smallville, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Lex/Chloe shipper, so some of that obsession may come out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Also, thank you so, so, much for your kind reviews!! They keep me motivated and writing new chapters for you all. Thanks again!!!!!! Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.  
  
Chapter Three  
  
Chloe Sullivan knew something was up. Clark Kent, the very picture of the all-American super healthy farmboy, had been called in sick. Chloe racked her brain, but she couldn't ever remember another time he had been sick. He had been fine yesterday, he had been fine all week. What was going on? Considering herself a fairly decent reporter, she had learned to trust her instincts, and right now they were screaming at her. Something was not right at the Kent farm. She had tried to explain this to Pete, but he had blown her off. Chloe decided that there was only one thing she could do. She would call over to Clark's house after her first hour newspaper class, and find out just what was going on for herself.  
  
Lucien watched the sleek black limo go through the gate to the Luthor estate with disgust. He had parked a safe distance away, his car obscured by trees. Adjusting the focus on the binoculars he was using, he watched Luthor himself walk calmly up the front steps. 'Bastard probably thinks since I missed I am going to give up.' That didn't matter though, he would not fail again. It will be a real treat to see him beg for his life. A gunshot through the head was too nice a punishment for him. Lucien was now resolved to kill him face to face so he could see it in Luthor's eyes when he realized he would die. 'It will be glorious.' He thought with a smile. His smile faltered however, as he noticed a second person getting out of the limo and following Lex into the mansion. 'It's that Kent boy. No matter. If he has sided with Luthor, he must die as well.' Lucien smiled and started making plans.  
  
Clark couldn't help be awed by the Luthor mansion every time he entered it. Lex tried to downplay it, but there was no hiding the fact that it was pretty impressive. "Lex? He called out to his friend.  
  
"Yeah, Clark?" Lex answered, halfway up the stairs to his bedroom.  
  
"Try and make it quick, ok? I don't think you're safe here."  
  
Lex smiled. "Thank you for your concern, Clark, but I'm not worried. I have a guard at the front gate, remember?"  
  
"I remember I was able to slip through the bars and get past him." Clark returned.  
  
Lex paused, remembering. "That is true. Alright, Clark. Give me a few minutes to take a quick shower, put on a pair of clean clothes, and pack a suitcase, and we'll leave."  
  
"Ok. I'll be down here." Clark answered, glad to be given an opportunity to wander around the mansion again. A few more weeks of visits, and he might actually go through every room.  
  
After a few moments, Clark found himself in the one room that he truly enjoyed being in at the Luthor mansion. The conservatory. It was filled to the roof with green plants and beautiful flowers. He never ceased to be amazed that something so beautiful would be locked away in a place as dreary as the Luthor mansion was. He vaguely wondered if Lex even knew this room was here. Lex obviously didn't take care of all these plants. Gardener, Lex Luthor definitely was not. Clark chuckled to himself at the imagined sight of Lex potting and watering plants in his usual black Armani suit. The image was just too weird. Even for a place such as Smallville. Clark casually wandered up and down the rows, stopping to smell the flowers he saw there. Orchids, Roses, everything. 'This one room could put Nell's flower shop out of business.' he mused in wonderment. He continued walking among the plants until he heard a throat clearing behind him. It was Lex.  
  
"I didn't know I'd find you in here, Clark. Not too many people know about this place. Including those who live and work here."  
  
"Really? Why is that?" Clark asked.  
  
"I don't like other people in here. Except for the gardeners, of course. I'm afraid that I have a black thumb, not a green one. But don't worry, you can come in here if you wish."  
  
"Why don't you like other people in here? What's wrong with it?"  
  
"This was to be my mother's conservatory, Clark. She was the gardener. She absolutely loved all kinds of flowers. After she died, I had the best gardeners in the country fill this place with the most beautiful plants and flowers imaginable. In honor of my mother."  
  
"I had no idea, Lex." Clark said softly.  
  
"Not many people do. Not even my father. I'm sure he would consider it a terrible waste of money and resources."  
  
"Why wouldn't your father like to have something to remember your mother, by?"  
  
"My parents never got along, Clark. They would have divorced but it would have been bad PR. Also, my mother didn't want to lose me in the custody battle that would invariably ensue afterwards. As it is now, my father can't stand to be reminded of her."  
  
"I'm sorry, Lex. That must be hard to live with."  
  
"It's no big deal. It's been that way since she died. And I knew they didn't love each other when I was a child. But that's all in the past now. Shall we move out of here? I'm done showering and packing." Lex turned to leave. Clark didn't hesitate to follow, it was obvious Lex didn't want to stay in the conservatory any longer.  
  
Clark knew where Lex was headed before they reached the door. The Library. Lex's domain and office. The one place in the castle where Clark knew he could invariably find his friend. It was where Lex felt secure. As he watched Lex sit behind his desk, he knew his friend was trying to re- establish the tight control he held over himself. Being in that room had loosened it just a little. "So," Clark began trying to draw the tension from the room and lighten things up a little. After a moment, he grimly remembered that such an act was not possible. An assassin had Lex in his sights, and would most likely stop at nothing to see his friend dead.  
  
"You're wondering what to do now." Lex stated, breaking through his thoughts.  
  
"Well, yeah." Clark white-lied. "I don't think you're safe here, Lex. This is the one place in which everyone knows to find you."  
  
"Yes I know. That is why I packed the suitcase. I am planning on checking myself in at the nearest 5 star hotel for the night. I'll probably have to travel to Metropolis to find one, but that's no big deal."  
  
"Stay at a hotel? Come on, Lex. You're not staying in a hotel." Clark said.  
  
"I'm not?" Lex asked.  
  
"No, you're not. As long as someone is after you, you are staying with me and my parents. No buts about it."  
  
"But-" Lex started.  
  
"What did I just say?" Clark interrupted. "Can't you just accept our hospitality for once? It's not going to kill you." Clark gave a kind of gasp at what he said. "I mean, of course it won't kill you, we won't-"  
  
"Clark, it's ok. I know what you mean." Lex sighed. "You're not going to give up on this, are you?"  
  
"Nope." Clark said with a smile.  
  
"You Kent's are a couple of stubborn mules, I tell you. You and your father both. I don't know how your mother can stand it." Lex joked.  
  
"Me neither. But remember, she's also a Kent. If she finds out you're planning on staying in a hotel, she won't give you any options either."  
  
Lex sighed again. "Alright. I'll stay with you. I need to make a few phone calls first, and then we can go." Lex turned to pick up the phone beside him. He dialed the number without thinking.  
  
"Lionel Luthor's office, Clarice speaking." a woman's voice answered.  
  
"I would like to speak to my father," Lex told her.  
  
"Ah, Mr. Luthor. I'm afraid your father is not here at the moment." The woman cooly informed him.  
  
"Where is he?" Lex asked, annoyed.  
  
"He is on a personal business trip through next week."  
  
'A personal business trip.' Lex sneered. "Alright. Thanks for nothing." He hung up forcefully.  
  
"Lex? What's wrong?" Clark asked, concern in his voice.  
  
"It's nothing, don't worry about it." Lex said, waving his hand like he meant it. Clark wasn't buying.  
  
"No, something's wrong. You're upset. Tell me." Clark insisted.  
  
Lex sighed. "It's my father. He's on one of his 'personal business trips.' He'll be gone until late next week. He didn't feel it important enough to mention."  
  
"What do you mean by 'personal business trips?'" Clark asked.  
  
"Basically, he's out fucking some slut he barely knows." Lex said grimly.  
  
"Oh. I'm sorry Lex."  
  
"Why? I don't care. He can screw whoever he wants to."  
  
"Why did you want to call him, anyway?"  
  
"I was hoping that he could help me figure out who has a wish to see me dead. But he seems to have more important things on his mind."  
  
"You were right in calling him, Lex. We need to figure out who is after you. I would have called your father as well. But not first."  
  
"Oh? Who would you have called first? Enlighten me."  
  
"Chloe." Clark stated.  
  
"Chloe?"  
  
"Yes, Chloe. Come on, Lex. She always seems to know what's going on around here."  
  
"Ah yes, Chloe Sullivan, Smallville's own intrepid reporter."  
  
"I think we should call her." Clark said, ignoring Lex.  
  
"And tell her what?"  
  
"The truth." Clark said, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
"Damn it, Clark. You're going to call her no matter what I say, aren't you?"  
  
"You know me so well." Clark said with a grin.  
  
"Screw you." Lex said. Clark laughed and went to call Chloe.  
  
A/N: This part was kinda short, sorry. I felt it needed to end where it did. The next part will be longer, promise. 


	4. Chapter Four

The Sins of the Father Part IV  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: All characters you recognize don't belong to me. They belong to other people with more money than me. Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late. Characters: Any and all, Lucien Caldwell, OFC. Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, and I'm not entirely up to date on all things Smallville, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Lex/Chloe shipper, so some of that obsession may come out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.  
  
Chapter Four  
  
Chloe was bored. If she had to listen to one more Algebra equation, her head was going to explode. As it was, she was already anxious to be out of school and on her way to Clark's house. She had called over there, but no one had answered. 'Something is definitely up, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it.' She glanced up at the clock, and threw her head into her hands in frustration. 'That damn clock is going backwards! It has to be!' She sighed and began tapping her foot on the ground anxiously. So intent on the clock, she jumped as her cell phone rang. She looked around the room nervously, desperately trying to pretend like nothing was happening. 'Cell phones are illegal here, why didn't I turn it off? Everyone is looking at me, I'm so embarrassed. Whoever is calling me right now is going to get their butt kicked.' Able to stand it no longer, Chloe picked up her purse and ran too the nearest bathroom, vowing never to show her face in Mr. Smith's Algebra I class again.  
  
She entered a stall and sat down on a toilet, and dug her still ringing phone out of her purse. She glanced at the caller id. It was an unlisted number. She answered it. "Listen, buddy. I don't know who the hell you think you are, or how you got this number, but--"  
  
"Chloe! Calm down, it's me, Clark."  
  
"Clark?! You asshole! Do you know what kind of trouble you just got me into?! I had to run out of class! The next time I see you, mark my words, your ass is grass."  
  
Clark held the phone away from his ear as Chloe shouted at him. 'Why was she so upset?' He glanced over at Lex, who chuckled. "Oh shut up." Clark said, frowning at his friend.  
  
"Shut up?!" Chloe fairly screamed. "How dare you tell me to shut up! You are so dead, Kent. You have no idea."  
  
"Chloe! Listen to me! I wasn't telling you to shut up."  
  
"Oh yeah? Well then who were you talking to, farmboy?" Chloe sneered.  
  
"Lex." Clark answered. Lex's eyes widened and he put up his hands in a 'don't bring me into this,' gesture.  
  
"Lex? Nice try. What do you take me for, an idiot? There is no way your parents would allow you to go to Lex's house if you are sick."  
  
"How do you figure? Maybe they don't know I'm sick." Clark countered.  
  
"Don't play games with me Clark. I'm not in the mood. A parent has to call their son or daughter in if they are going to be sick for the day, remember?"  
  
"Oh yeah. Well, that doesn't matter. I'm not sick, I am at Lex's, and my parents do know I'm here. Now, well you let me explain why I called?"  
  
"Not yet. If you are at Lex's, let me talk to him."Chloe said, thinking she had beaten Clark at the game she seemed to think he was playing. Clark hesitated, and she pounced on him. "I knew it! I am two seconds from hanging up if you don't tell me the truth!" Clark sighed and handed the phone over to Lex.  
  
"Talk to her. Please?" Clark asked his friend. Lex sighed.  
  
"Miss Sullivan? Chloe? Are you there?" Lex asked, repeatedly, not getting an answer.  
  
"Mr. Luthor? I mean, Lex? So Clark really is over at your house?"  
  
"Yes indeed he is. He was telling the truth, Chloe. I suggest you let him finish."  
  
"Um, sure." Chloe stammered. Lex handed the phone back to Clark and grinned.  
  
"I seem to have left her speechless." he said. Clark rolled his eyes and took back the phone.  
  
"Chloe? Are you going to listen to me now?"  
  
"Yes, I will listen. What's wrong?"  
  
"I don't really want to talk about it over the phone, but I will say this. We need your help."  
  
"What? You mean right now? What's going on?"  
  
"Yes, Chloe. Right now. Can you sneak out of school? Trust me, it's important."  
  
"Um, yeah..." Chloe said.  
  
"Good. We'll meet you a block away at the gas station. Do you know where I mean?"  
  
"Yes." Chloe answered.  
  
"We'll be in Lex's limo. It's not very conspicuous, but it's safe. We'll meet you there in about fifteen minutes."  
  
"Alright. I'll meet you. But I am going to get some answers, Kent."  
  
"Yes, you will. Bye Chloe." Clark hung up the phone and turned to his friend. "She said she'll help us. We have to pick her up in fifteen minutes, though."  
  
"Alright. I need a drink first. A very large drink." Lex said, going to pour himself three fingers of scotch. He grimaced as he drank it in one go. "Alright, let's go. The limo should still be waiting out front. I hope we know what we're doing."  
  
"So do I Lex," Clark answered. "So do I."  
  
Chloe sat on the toilet seat, stunned. Clark, who never did anything remotely rebellious in his life, was asking her to skip school. Skip school! Not that she had never done it before if the mood struck her, but this was Clark! She sighed and put her phone back into her purse. She then stood up and made her way out the door, going over a story in her head should anyone catch her. 'I'm just going back to the Torch office. I forgot something.' She would say. Then she would go into the current stories the Torch was working on. This alone was enough to send any teacher away from her. 'Close minded people.' She thought disgustedly. 'They wouldn't see a good story around here if it smacked them upside the head.' She tried to appear casual as she made her way toward one of the building's side doors. It would be stupid to go out the front, where so many people would be there to see her leave.  
  
Upon reaching the door, she hesitated. She didn't want to rush out and in her haste get herself caught. No, she had to go slowly. She had to make it look like she had every right in the world to be sneaking out of the school. And that's exactly what she did. When she made it to the street, she allowed herself a small breath of relief. She wasn't home-free yet, but at least she had made it out of school without getting caught. 'Oh God, I hope I didn't just jinx myself.' She made her way up the block to the gas station.  
  
As she entered the lot, she glanced at her watch and sighed. Clark and Lex wouldn't be there for another 10 minutes or so. She had hoped that they would be waiting for her when she got there so she could avoid being seen by the people in town. Although Smallville wasn't a tiny Kansas town by any means, gossip still traveled as quickly as if there were only 5,000 people living here, not 45,000. She decided to wait in the gas station's bathroom. She figured that she would at least be out of sight for a while. As she entered, she paused a moment to look at herself in the mirror. 'God, I look a mess.' She hurriedly opened up her purse and took out a comb to untangle her short blonde hair. 'I can't let Lex see me like this.' She thought to herself. She then paused and went over what she had just said. "Wait a minute, Lex? I don't care what Lex thinks. Where did that come from?" She said outloud. She shook her head, but didn't stop her brushing. Once she was finished, she reapplied her favorite pink lip gloss, refusing to go into why she bothered. Well, she at least tried to refuse to think about it anyway. 'I just feel like putting on some makeup. That's all.' She rationalized to herself. She stopped and glanced at herself in the mirror and sighed. She shook her head and went out into the gas station, praying that Lex and Clark would be there so she wouldn't have to wait. She glanced out front. No such luck, they weren't there yet. She sighed again and went to buy herself a candy bar. Chocolate was always something she indulged herself in when she was feeling confused. She would have got a cup of coffee, but she had fears of what gas station coffee would do to her. As she waited for her change, hoping the cashier didn't know who she was, she glanced outside again. She sighed in relief. There, in all it's glory, was Lex's black stretch limo. Well, she didn't actually know it was Lex's, but who else in Smallville could get away with riding around in something like that other than on prom night? She hurriedly took her change and made her way outside to meet Clark, who had opened the door and was waiting for her. She frowned a bit as she noticed Lex didn't get out of the car to meet her as well. 'What am I thinking?' she mused to herself. 'Of course he wouldn't get out to meet me. Why should he? I'm just a silly highschooler with a crush.' She gasped at her unspoken words. 'Oh no!' She yelled at herself. 'You can not have a crush on Lex Luthor, Chloe! What are you thinking girl! He's rich, he's older, he's handsome, did I mention that he was handsome?' She groaned out loud and blushed, causing Clark to take notice of her.  
  
"Chloe?" He asked, with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" Chloe shook her head to banish her thoughts.  
  
"I'm fine, really. Now can we get going so I can find out why the hell you just had me sneak out school in the middle of the day?" Clark smiled and moved aside to let her in the limo. As soon as she sat down, (next to Lex, she noted wryly) she forced herself to concentrate on the situation at hand, but a few last thoughts slipped through her barrier. 'Good God, Lex looks sexy in that shirt!' She turned her face to look out one of the windows to hide her blush. 'What the hell is wrong with me? And why is this happening now, of all times? And what about Clark? You liked Clark, didn't you Chloe? What the hell happened?' A confused look passed over her face and Lex and Clark looked at each other.  
  
Clark was confused. Chloe was acting strange, even for her. Sure, she had regained herself long enough to yell at him to hurry, but now she was looking out the window and blushing. He looked to Lex, wondering over the amused look on his friend's face. 'What the hell is gong on? Why am I always the last one to know about these things?' Clark sighed. He glanced over at Chloe again and a thought suddenly struck him. 'She likes Lex! That's why she's blushing!' Clark gasped as he noted that she had put on some makeup as well. It even looked freshly applied. Clark couldn't believe it. 'What am I going to do now?' He thought. 'Lex is always trying to help me out with Lana, maybe I should return the favor by helping him out with Chloe.' Clark smiled briefly, but his smile abruptly dropped as he came back down to earth. "Chloe?" he asked. "You want to know why you're here, don't you?"  
  
"Of course I do!" Chloe said. "Why? Are you ready to tell me yet? I figured you were going to wait all day. Oh, before you say anything, where are we going?"  
  
"To Clark's house." Lex interjected. Both Clark and Chloe looked at him as if he had sprouted another head out of his shoulder. "What?" he asked. "You said so yourself, Clark. I'm not safe at the mansion."  
  
"Wait a minute, what does he mean by that?" Chloe asked. "Lex, what do you mean by that? Why wouldn't you be safe at your own house? And what happened to your head?" Chloe asked, taking note of it for the first time.  
  
"Because there is an assassin after him, Chloe." Clark paused a moment to let his statement sink in. "He was shot at last night at my house. He got the cut on his head from the bullet as it went by."  
  
"My God, are you ok Lex?" she asked quietly. Lex nodded. "Wait a minute, Clark." Chloe continued. "Your house? Where we're going right now? Where Lex is supposedly safe?" Chloe made an irritated sound. "Now, I know this may sound foolish, but if Lex was shot at last night at your house, why are we going back there now? And why have you told me about this? Have you called the police? Lex, why don't you have bodyguards?" Chloe rattled the questions off until Lex put up a hand.  
  
"Chloe, we're going to Clark's house because I feel safe there. Also, I am a man of my word, and I promised Mrs. Kent that Clark and I would return safely. We told you about this because Clark seemed to believe that you would be able to help us uncover who is behind it. After consideration, I believe that as well."  
  
"Um, thank you. I hope I will be able to help." Chloe said, blushing again.  
  
"I'm sure you will," Lex said." He smiled at her and leaned back to wait out the rest of the drive to the Kent household in silence.  
  
Lucien was confused. 'What the hell is going on now? Who was that girl they picked up at the gas station?' He had been following the limo all morning, careful to nt be seen in his blue ford pickup truck. He chuckled at his choice of vehicle. 'As if anyone would ever look twice at a vehicle like this in this place.' But this new development was troubling. Who was this girl, and what could she possibly have to do with the Luthors?' After a moment's consideration, his face paled in shock. 'No, she couldn't be. Not like Emily.' Lucien seethed. "That bastard!" He yelled out loud, not caring if he was overheard. "He's just like his father!" Whatever doubts or twinges of conscience he may have had over killing Luthor's son, vanished as he saw the pretty young blond step into the limo.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Now I said this part would be longer, and I obviously lied. Sorry about that, but I felt I needed to end this part where it did for a bit of drama. Hope you don't mind too much. It all has a purpose. Thanks for reading, next part will be up soon. Promise! 


	5. Chapter Five

The Sins of the Father Part V  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: If only....  
  
Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark and Co. to save him before it's too late.  
  
Characters: Any and all, including Lucien Caldwell, my very own OFC.  
  
Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, and I'm not entirely up to date on all things Smallville, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story because I like Lex too much to let him become evil. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Lex/Chloe shipper, so some of that obsession comes out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Again, thank you for all the kind reviews, especially by Ultrawoman, the only person to review my last chapter. They really makes my day, and give me a healthy kick in the rear to finish another chapter. In short, PLEASE POST THEM!!!! Please??? Also, as per request, the underglorified Pete has been added to this story. Enjoy!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.  
  
Chapter Five  
  
Upon arrival at Clark's house, Lex dismissed his driver for the time being, and the three of them made a mad dash for Clark's front door. Once they were safely inside, Mrs. Kent took up the opportunity to speak. "Chloe? What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at school right now?"  
  
Chloe glanced over at Lex and Clark before speaking. "Um, yes I am, Mrs. Kent. I received a call from Clark telling me to sneak out and meet him at the gas station near school."  
  
"Clark? Is this true?" Jonathan Kent asked loudly, giving his son a look.  
  
"Yeah dad. It's true." Clark answered.  
  
"Why on earth would you have Chloe sneak out school?" Martha asked.  
  
"I figured she could help us find out who is after Lex. You know how she is, dad. If anyone can find out who's behind this, Chloe can."  
  
"Does your father know anything about this, Lex? I assume you called him." Jonathan said.  
  
"I wouldn't know, Mr. Kent," Lex answered. "As he is out of town for the next week and couldn't be bothered by his only son."  
  
"Oh." was all Mr. Kent could say to that.  
  
"So what brings you back here, Clark?" Mrs. Kent asked. "It's only been a few hours since you left."  
  
"I know mom. It was actually Lex's idea to come here." Clark said, casting a glance at his friend.  
  
"Lex, is that true?" Martha asked him.  
  
"Yes it is, Mrs. Kent. I didn't know what else to do for the moment. At least I feel safe here."  
  
"You do?" Mr. Kent asked, not quite masking the shock on his face.  
  
"Yes, I do. I mean, who wouldn't? How many lives has Clark saved since I've been here, not including mine? Let me tell you, it's been a hell of a lot. There's just something about Clark. I don't know what it is, but I feel safe around him."  
  
Lex's statement caused a variety of reactions from the group: Clark looked embarrassed and blushed, Chloe was grinning widely but pretending not to, Mrs. Kent was smiling, and Mr. Kent looked at his son proudly.  
  
"Gosh Lex, I mean, I don't know what to say. You make it sound like I'm some kind of super hero." Clark said, grinning.  
  
Lex laughed. "God forbid that should ever happen, Clark. You in tights is definitely a sight I don't care to see."  
  
'So, back at the Kent household once more.' Lucien thought with disgust. 'If Luthor thinks he's safe in there he's dead wrong.' He glanced around him, trying to think up a way to get him to come out where he could get to him. The solution came upon him in a flash as he saw the limo driver walk back around from where he had opened the door back to the driver's seat. Lucien got out of the truck, careful to not make a noise should he be noticed by the people inside. He made his way as quickly as he could to the where the driver was just about to get into the car. 'Hurry, you fool! This is your only chance to get Luthor out of the house!' Putting on an extra burst of speed, he came upon the driver in a flash, knocking him down to the ground in his surprise. Once he was sure the driver was unconscious, Lucien took a breath and relaxed a bit. 'Mission accomplished.' He looked over the driver's limp body with a grin. He even began to whistle softly as he carried the man to the back of the limo where he could divest him of his clothes.  
  
Once Lucien had redressed in the chauffeur's clothes, he pushed the half naked man out of the car and onto the ground. The driver, his nametag read 'Erik,' groaned, but did not awaken. Once Lucien was assured that he had everything in the right place and straight, he made his way to the Kent's front door and raised a hand to knock.  
  
The room grew silent at the knocking on the door. "Lex? Are you expecting someone?" Mr. Kent asked, a worried look on his face.  
  
"No. No one knows I'm here except for you all and my limo driver."  
  
"I'll get it." Clark volunteered, making his way to the front door.  
  
"Now, wait just a minute, son. Everyone, into the living room. I'm sure it's nothing, but we shouldn't be too careful. Clark, I'll answer it."  
  
"But-" Clark started.  
  
"No buts. What if it's someone from your school? How would we explain that? Now you go into the living room with everyone else and wait there until I call you." Clark sighed, but did as he was told. Jonathan smiled, fortunate to have a son such as Clark, and made his way to the front door. Upon reaching it, he opened it slowly. "Yes? May I help you?" he asked the man standing before him.  
  
"Ah, yes sir. Is Mr. Luthor about? I urgently need to speak to him." the man asked politely.  
  
Jonathan hesitated, taking in the man's outfit. He relaxed a little when he saw the nametag with 'Metropolis Limo Services' printed across the top. "Lex!" He shouted to the living room. Your limo driver is here! He needs to speak with you." He turned toward the man. "He'll be here in a minute. Would you like to come in?"  
  
"Why thank you sir." the man said, taking off his hat as he entered the door. Lucien struggled to keep his face emotionless as Lex entered the room alone. 'So close, now if I could just get to him.'  
  
"What is it?" Lex asked, walking over to speak with him. His face became confused for a moment, and Lucien made his move. "Wait, you're not-- " he was cut off as Lucien pulled out a gun, grabbed Lex, and put it to his head.  
  
"What is this?!" Jonathan yelled.  
  
"Don't try me, Mr. Kent. You seem like an intelligent man, save for the fact you invite this piece of trash into your home. I do not wish to shoot you, but I will if you make me."  
  
"Just let him go." Jonathan said, raising a hand to stop Clark from running in. "We can talk about this. No one wants to get hurt, just let him go."  
  
"Not a chance." Lucien said with a bitter grin. "He will pay for what his father has done to me and mine."  
  
"Why should Lex pay for this sins of his father?" Clark asked.  
  
"Lionel took away my child, and now I shall take away his. Don't try to stop us on the way out. I'll shoot him, believe me."  
  
Clark didn't know what to do. His friend was in trouble and he couldn't do a thing. Although he knew he was fast, he didn't know if he was fast enough. He looked at the gun that was pressed to Lex's temple. He might get Lex free, but not before he was shot.  
  
"It's ok, everyone. Everything is fine." Lex said as calmly as he could. His eyes met with Chloe's. He frowned as he saw a tear make it's way down her face. "I'll be alright," he said, his eyes not leaving hers.  
  
"Shut up!" Lucien yelled, yanking Lex outside to the limo by his jacket. "Remember! Don't try and stop me or your 'friend' dies right now." He then quickly threw Lex into the limo, closed the door, pressed the 'lock' button on the car remote and made his way to the already running limo. As soon as he did, he stepped on the gas and made his way down the road as fast as he could, laughing all the way at his good fortune.  
  
Clark was just about to take off running after the fading headlights of the limo when Jonathan put a hand on his chest. "No, son." he said quietly.  
  
"What do you mean, no? I can still catch them! I can go fast enough, I know it!"  
  
"What do you mean, Clark?" Chloe asked, tears still running down her face. "We can't catch him now. We need to find out where this madman is taking him! Someone call the police!" she yelled at them, becoming a bit hysterical.  
  
"I already did, Chloe." Mrs. Kent whispered, coming back into the room. Chloe ran to her and began to sob.  
  
"Who would do something like that? That man just took him! Took him before I could tell him anything!" Martha looked down on her with a knowing glance. "Don't worry, it'll be alright. I was just beginning to like having Lex around. We're not giving up on him yet." She leaned in and whispered in Chloe's ear. "Don't worry, I'm sure he knows how you feel." Chloe looked up at her with wide eyes.  
  
"How? How can you know that?" She asked.  
  
"The way you looked at him. I just knew. Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."  
  
"Thank you." Chloe said softly. She wasn't ready for other people to know about the feelings she had developed for Lex. Now wasn't the time. Now was the time to figure out who that bastard was that took him. She quickly ran over to the kitchen table where she pulled out her laptop.  
  
"Chloe? What are you doing?" Clark asked, still in a bit of a state of shock.  
  
"I'm trying to find out who that bastard was, Clark. I'm hacking into the Luthor Corp employee records. They keep a photo ID of all their employees on file. We know what he looks like, so it's just a matter of time."  
  
"Why the Luthor Corp records?" Jonathan asked.  
  
"Because that's the only logical explanation. He blames Lionel Luthor for something, and is taking it out on Lex. Besides," she added quietly, "I don't know where else to look." She shook her head and began to search.  
  
'What the hell was that all about?' Pete wondered to himself. 'First Clark, now Chloe? What is going on here?' Pete wasn't stupid. He knew something was not right with the world when Clark hadn't shown up to school. Clark simply didn't get sick. And after Chloe got that phone call in the middle of Algebra and ran out, Pete was convinced that he had to figure out what was going on. 'I've got to get outta here. Where would Chloe have gone?' he wondered to himself, already visualizing how he could get out of school without anyone noticing him. The answer came to him in a flash. 'Of course she would go to Clark's. Who else could cause her to skip school for?' Pete just shook his head and went up to his teacher's desk to ask to go to the bathroom. He had to keep a straight face as Mrs. Klinger agreed without looking at him. 'She probably won't even notice that I'm gone.' Pete thought, amused. 'No one else does.' He made his way out of the building through the same door Chloe had taken earlier with relative ease. (A/N: Don't try and skip school. It's not as easy as I've made it out to be. Anyway, on with the show, er story.)  
  
On the middle of a sandy Mediterranean beach, Lionel paused, a concerned look crossing over his face. "What's wrong, Mr. Luthor?" the woman underneath him asked.  
  
"Did I say you could speak? Nothing is wrong. I just thought for a minute that Alexander was..."  
  
"Your son was what?" The woman asked again, not taking note of Lionel's previous statement about speech.  
  
"Don't you dare speak about my son!" Lionel wrapped a towel around himself and made his way back to the condo, leaving the nameless woman alone and naked on the sand.  
  
As soon as he reached the condo, his hand hovered over the phone, a breadth away from calling out to Smallville and finding out if Lex was alright. After a moment's hesitation, he pulled his hand away quickly and cursed himself for his foolishness. He looked up at a knock on the door. The woman was back, her eyes begging forgiveness. "Let's go back to bed." Lionel said to her. He would be damned if he was going to let anything spoil his week, not even his son.  
  
'Fuck, this is not good.' Lex thought to himself. He glanced toward the direction of the false limo driver, his view interrupted by the sliding window block. He tried the doors again, but they were still locked. He could do nothing but watch out the darkly tinted windows and hope that his friends would find him soon. His eyes widened a bit at that. 'His friends. There were actually people he could trust to try and find him.' He glanced at the opaque divider again. 'They'd better hurry.' He had seen single- minded men before, and he knew that this man who had kidnaped him would stop at nothing to see him dead.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: My story is not ended yet, not even close. For those of you who have made it this far, THANK YOU FOR READING!!!!! PLEASE post reviews. They keep me writing new chapters which should be up soon. :-) 


	6. Chapter Six

The Sins of the Father Part VI  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: I own a Smallville poster, patch, sticker, DVD, and a cat named Alexander. Does that count?? Sigh, I didn't think so.  
  
Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late.  
  
Characters: Any and all, including Pete! and Lucien Caldwell, my very own evil OFC.  
  
Author's Note: While this is not my first attempt at fanfiction, this is still my first attempt at Smallville fanfiction, so please be kind with your comments and criticisms. Thank you. Oh, and by the way, this is an AU story because I like Lex too much to let him become evil. Also, I've recently discovered that I am a Chlexer, so some of that obsession comes out in this story. You have been warned. ;-) Also, thank you again for all your kind reviews! They truly make my day and keep me writing!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence and language.  
  
Chapter Six  
  
After the police had come and gone, the Kent household fell into silence. They had told them all they could about who had taken Lex, but the police didn't hold much hope in finding him. They didn't say this outright of course, but it was evident. They weren't about to give up hope though. These were the kind of people who would never betray their friends, no matter what happened. And Lex Luthor had slowly been accepted as a friend. It didn't happen right away, but it was certainly true now. They wouldn't give him up without a fight.  
  
Chloe Sullivan wasn't about to give up either. She didn't necessarily consider Lex Luthor a friend, though. She wanted him to be so much more than that, and she wouldn't give up that chance without a fight.  
  
"Any luck, Chloe?" Clark asked for what seemed the hundredth time in the time since Lex had been taken.  
  
"Not yet, Clark. Don't worry, we'll find him." She said, forcing a smile on her face. "I don't give up that easily.  
  
"I know." Clark said. He sat down at the table next to her, quietly praying to himself again for the life of his friend. He was startled out of by a knock on the door. He jumped up to answer it, both hoping and fearing that it was news of Lex. He wasn't prepared for the sight he was greeted with. "Pete?" he asked the man in front of him.  
  
"Hey Clark. I know you're probably wondering what the heck I'm doing out of school in the middle of the day, but I was looking for Chloe. She just ran out in the middle of class and I figured she would be here. Was I wrong?" he asked.  
  
Clark sighed. "No, Pete. Chloe's here." Pete looked beyond Clark at Chloe sitting at the kitchen table. She seemed unaware of his presence.  
  
"Pete? What are you doing here? Wait, don't tell me. You snuck out of school too, didn't you?" Mrs. Kent commented on seeing Pete in her kitchen.  
  
"Uh, yeah, Mrs. Kent. I went looking for Chloe and figured she'd be here."  
  
"Why did you think that, Pete?" Martha asked.  
  
"Well, I knew she would want to know what happened to Clark. He wasn't at school today."  
  
"Why is that so strange to everyone?" Clark asked.  
  
"Oh come on, Clark. You're like the most healthy person I know. Now, can someone please tell me what's going on?"  
  
"Please sit down, Pete. We'll explain everything." Martha said, guiding him to a seat next to Chloe, who finally noticed him for the first time.  
  
"Oh hi Pete. What are you doing here?" she asked.  
  
  
  
Lucien couldn't believe it. Everything was going his way. He had captured Luthor and now had the opportunity to make Lionel pay for what he had done to Emily. 'She was innocent, she didn't deserve that. She didn't deserve any of it.' He quickly pushed thoughts of her aside. Now was not the time to dwell on such things. Now was the time to worry about what he was going to do the young Luthor. 'No, I won't think of him as young. That implies that he could be innocent. He is not innocent. He is just like his father. The world will thank me for killing him.' Lucien thought over this as he drove to the warehouse he had rented in Metropolis. 'Is killing him not punishment enough?' Lucien wasn't entirely sure. He had never killed anyone before, he wasn't a monster. It was the Luthor's who were the monsters, not him. 'But he must be made to pay. I must make sure that young blonde-haired woman doesn't end up like my Emily. But does that mean I have to kill him?' Lucien pondered over the juvenile records of the younger Luthor which he had procured from an old friend in the Metropolis P.D. 'No, I must find a way to make him suffer without killing him. What does Luthor value above all else?' Lucien thought over everything he had found out about him in the last week. The answer came to him in a flash. 'His control over himself and the world around him.' He grinned. He had his solution.  
  
  
  
Despite all the things Jonathan Kent knew needed to be done on a farm to keep it running, he couldn't focus himself to do any of them. All he could think about was that man with a gun to Lex's head. The man that he had let into his home. After seeing the uniform he didn't give a second thought to letting him into his house and calling Lex over to speak with him. Jonathan took a moment to curse himself for his foolishness. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if something happened to Lex as a result of his stupidity. He had a sick feeling that Clark wouldn't either.  
  
"Jonathan?" His wife called out, walking up to him. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I was just fixing a few posts on this fence." He answered.  
  
"That doesn't need to be done right now, and it doesn't look like you're really concentrating on it. What's the matter?"  
  
"Nothing," Jonathan said, looking down at the ground.  
  
"Oh come on Jonathan. You're not that good of a liar. You never have been. Is it about Lex?"  
  
"I feel responsible for what happened to him, Martha. I'm the one who let that man into our house. He said he felt safe there, Martha. In our home, around our son."  
  
Martha sighed. "How many times to I have to tell you and Clark that everything is not your fault? Come on, Jonathan. How could you have known that the man really wasn't Lex's limo driver? Now stop worrying about whose fault it is and help the rest of us find him."  
  
Jonathan sighed. "Once again, you remind me of just how much I love you, Martha." He said, standing up and kissing her.  
  
"And I love you, Jonathan. Now stop blaming yourself and come inside."  
  
  
  
"I've got you, you bastard!" Chloe yelled out victoriously at her computer.  
  
"What have you found, Chloe?" Jonathan asked, coming in behind his wife.  
  
"I've got an ID on the guy who took Lex. His name is Lucien Caldwell."  
  
  
  
"Who are you?!" Lex yelled at the man who had handcuffed him to a chair in what seemed to be an empty warehouse. "And why have you brought me here?" he yelled, his voice echoing in the large room.  
  
"My name is Lucien Caldwell, Mr. Luthor. I worked as a janitor in the Luthor Corp building here in Metropolis."  
  
"Why have you brought me here?" Lex asked, taking note that he was indeed in Metropolis and not Smallville.  
  
"For Emily." was all he had to say.  
  
"Who's Emily?" Lex asked him, but not receiving an answer.  
  
  
  
"Look, it says here that he had a daughter that worked with him at the Luthor Corp building by the name of Emily Caldwell." Clark said, pointing over Chloe's shoulder at the screen.  
  
"Let's find out more about her." Chloe said, accessing her file. "Hmm...that's interesting." She said after a few minutes.  
  
"What is?" Mrs. Kent asked.  
  
"It says here that she was Lionel Luthor's personal assistant. It also says that she left about six months ago."  
  
"Left? What do you mean, left? Was she fired?" Pete asked.  
  
"It doesn't say. It just says that Luthor Corp terminated her employment. Hold on, let me check something. I hope I'm not right..."  
  
"Um, Chloe you do realize that it's illegal to hack into the Metropolis Police records, don't you?" Clark asked, casting a slightly concerned glance at his friend.  
  
"Yeah, yeah." Chloe said. Her breath caught. "Oh my god," she whispered.  
  
  
  
"Emily was everything to me." Lucien gritted out through his teeth.  
  
'His daughter was a personal assistant for my father?' Lex thought with an inward grimace. 'This is not good.' "What happened to her?" Lex asked, afraid of the answer.  
  
  
  
"What is it, Chloe?" Mrs. Kent asked, hearing her words.  
  
"She committed suicide. She jumped off the Metropolis Memorial Bridge six months ago. But that's not the worst part, Mrs. Kent."  
  
"It isn't?" Martha asked.  
  
"According to the police autopsy report, she was three weeks pregnant when she did it."  
  
  
  
'Oh, God.' Lex thought to himself. 'His daughter and my father were having an affair. Damn him!' "I'm sorry for your situation, Mr. Caldwell, but I'm not the one who got your daughter pregnant. My father is."  
  
"Shut up, you bastard You don't understand anything!" Lucien shouted, slapping Lex hard across the face. "As much as I tried to persuade her otherwise, Emily actually loved your father! She was overjoyed when she found out she was carrying his child. But when she went to tell him, he sent her away without a second glance, telling her he didn't want the child or her."  
  
Lex spit blood on the floor and cursed his father again. He wasn't all that surprised at the man's revelation. His father had done such things before, and would certainly do such things again.  
  
"After she left your father, she made her way straight to the bridge and threw herself into the water. She wouldn't even talk to me! After your father sent her away, she was heart broken. She wouldn't even talk to me..." He whispered.  
  
Lex gasped, not saying a word. He had enough experience dealing with emotional people to know when saying something will only further damage the situation. After a few minutes, Lucien seemed to calm down a little, and Lex spoke up.  
  
"What are you going to do to me?" Lex asked quietly.  
  
"Oh don't worry, you'll find out." Lucien said after making sure Lex was securely handcuffed. He smirked and left.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: Oh come on, secretly you really love a good cliffhanger, don't you? No? Well fine then. Next chapter will be up soon. 


	7. Chapter Seven

The Sins of the Father Part VII  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: You know, it's probably a good thing that I don't own them. I don't know if I would want to share. :-)  
  
Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late.  
  
Characters: Any and all, including Pete! and Lucien Caldwell, my very own evil OFC.  
  
Author's Note: This chapter was a bit of a big step for me. It even required me to do research! shudder I hope you like it. Thank you for all the kind reviews, they truly make my day and tell me that the research is needed to keep you wonderful people happy and continuing to like my story.  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence, language, and forced drug used.  
  
Chapter Seven  
  
With Lucien gone, Lex took the opportunity to look around and gage the situation he now found himself in. He tested the handcuffs, but he was securely attached to the chair he was sitting in. And the chair itself, it seemed to be bolted to the floor. The room around him seemed to be completely empty, but Lex took the opportunity to yell out anyway. "Can anyone hear me? I'm trapped in here! Someone help me!!" After waiting a few seconds for the echoing to stop, Lex's hopes fell. No one was answering. In all likelihood, no one had even heard him. Lex spit blood again from the split lip the man had given him. He cautiously ran his tongue down his lower lip and found blood slowly but surely running down his chin and dripping onto his pant leg. Lex took a moment to reevaluate his situation. Being somewhat of a pessimist, Lex didn't hold out a lot of faith that he would be rescued anytime soon. As good as Clark seemed to be at saving people, Lex didn't really believe he was up to it this time. 'After all, who's to say he even knows where I am?'  
  
  
  
'Damn it!' Chloe shouted at herself. 'Lex is counting on you, he may die if you don't find something out!' Chloe tiredly ran a hand across her face. She glanced at the watch on her wrist. It had been hours since Lex had been taken, and they still didn't know where he was. The only information they had was the identity of the man who had taken him, and so far even that hadn't helped much. "Clark?" she called out to her friend. "It's getting kind of late. School was over about an hour ago. Would you have your mother call my dad and tell him that I'm spending the night here? I don't think he'll mind, it is a Friday after all." Clark nodded and left to relay the message to his mother. She turned to her other best friend. "Pete? You could probably do the same if you want to. It's probably going to be a long night, though. But you don't have to stay if you don't want to. I know you don't like Lex very much. It's ok if you want to leave."  
  
"No, I'll stay." Pete said. In truth, he was more worried about Chloe that he could be about Lex any day of the week. 'But,' Pete mused with a sigh, 'that doesn't mean that I want to see the guy dead.' Some part of Pete's mind rebelled at that notion, but he pushed it away. 'Chloe seems to be taking this whole situation a bit more serious that the rest of us. She seems really shaken up over Luthor's kidnaping.' Pete paused, horror flashing across his face. 'Oh dear God, don't let it be true. Chloe's a smart girl. There's no way she could ever fall for Lex Luthor.'  
  
"Pete!" Clark yelled out at his friend. "Do you want my mom to call your family too?" Clark waited for a response, but saw that Pete's mind seemed to be otherwise engaged. Clark decided that Pete would probably want to stay as well so he told his mom to call the Ross family as well. After he did so, he sat at the kitchen table and sighed. He had managed to take his mind off of Lex for a whole five minutes before it all came crashing back to him. 'If only I had been faster, maybe I would have been able to save him.' He thought grimly. As it was, he figured that Chloe secretly blamed him for allowing this to happen. Clark had seen how frustrated she was over trying to find out something on her computer. He vaguely recalled how she had acted in the limousine on the way over here. 'It seems like that happened days ago,' Clark thought. 'There is more than her worry than meets the eye. Can Chloe actually be interested in Lex?' Clark had mused over such an idea earlier, but hadn't had much time to think on it. 'The way she is acting is just how I act around Lana. She's got a crush on Lex!' Clark was both shocked and amused by this revelation. He didn't really mind that Chloe had a crush on him, in fact, he was glad that she wasn't interested in him any longer. As cute and fun to be around as Chloe was, Clark simply could not see himself ever becoming interested in her past the 'just friends' stage. 'Lex, where are you? Chloe needs you?'  
  
Martha Kent couldn't stop worrying about Lex. No matter how she tried, she couldn't put the image of his face as he was taken out of her mind. After she had called both Chloe and Pete's parents, she looked over to Clark as he sat at the kitchen table. She knew he would blame himself for what happened. That was just how Clark reacted to a troubling situation. Even though he probably knew deep down that there was nothing he could have done, he would blame himself anyway. His father was the same way. Taking a deep breath and looking upwards, she silently offered up a prayer for Lex's safety. 'Please God, do not take this man from us. He may not fully realize it yet, but he is slowly becoming a part of this family. Protect him and bring him back to us. In Your name, Amen.'  
  
Jonathan Kent looked over the people in his family and currently residing in his household. Chloe was looking quite frustrated with herself over the computer. She was no doubt having little luck in finding out more about the man who had taken Lex. Pete in turn, looked worried over Chloe. He then turned to look at his son as he sat at the kitchen table. As for him, he looked as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He was no doubt worrying over Lex. Jonathan gave a brief frown to himself. He still didn't fully trust Lex, but he was coming to accept his presence in his family. He had to admit, Lex Luthor had certainly worked his way into all of their lives. It probably hadn't been easy for him, but Jonathan had to admire his persistence. 'I just hope to God that he's all right.'  
  
  
  
"Damn it!" Lucien cursed himself. He had left Luthor alone for awhile in the hopes of strengthening his resolve in what he had to do. Luthor had to die, didn't he? Some small part of his mind, a voice actually, tells him that he doesn't. Lucien wants to push this voice away and go on with his plans for revenge, but the voice is insistent. Eerily enough, it sounds a lot like Emily. It urged him that killing someone was no answer, no matter what. With one last curse, Lucien pushed the voice away, but not before it's words had affected him. He had spent four months after Emily's death trying to forgive Lionel Luthor for what he had done to her. He had never wanted to kill anyone. He just wanted to make Luthor pay for what he had done to her. He had initially planned to drug and beat Luthor's son to death. But suddenly a new plan flashed through his mind. He remembered reading over Luthor junior's juvenile files with the help of a friend in the Metropolis P.D. He knew of Lex's rather shady past here in Metropolis. He knew all about Club Zero, the numerous women, and most importantly, the drugs. He had to marvel at how Lex had cleaned himself up completely in only two years. According to the reports, he had tried it all. Not just the more common kinds of drugs, but the new combinations that many people had never even heard of except in the areas where they were created as well. The young Luthor had tried them all and somehow managed through what had to be a supreme act of will to rid himself of it all. Lucien smiled to himself. 'Well, I'm going to change all of that. I want to see Lionel Luthor's face when he finds out his son's become a drug addict again.' He paused a moment, considering. 'I wonder what his new friends back in Kansas will think of him as well.' Lucien chuckled, marveling over the perfection and absolute simplicity of his plan. 'Hell, I'll even use Lex's own money to purchase the drugs. Got to have the good stuff, after all.' Patting his back pocket to make sure he had Lex's purloined wallet still in hand, he went off to make his purchases.  
  
After what seemed like hours, Lex finally gave up on trying to escape. He resolved himself to the grim fact that if the man who held him didn't let him go, he may never get out of here. But although he was pessimistic, Lex wasn't about to give up. Luthor's never gave up without a fight. And as much as he would sometimes like to convince himself otherwise, Lex was indeed a Luthor. If a chance came for him to escape, Lex would take it without question. He would make his way to the nearest phone, and would wipe the scum who had kidnaped him off the face of the earth. So, instead of wasting his energy at pulling at the handcuffs or shouting his lungs out, Lex would just sit and wait. He could be very patient when he put his mind to it, and right now he was. he was surprised when he found out he wouldn't have to wait long. He glanced up in the direction of the footsteps he had heard coming towards him. His captor had returned. Lex's calm composure dropped when he saw that Lucien had a smile on his face and a hand behind his back. "What are you doing?" Lex asked cautiously, not sure he wanted to know."  
  
"I'm ensuring that you be made to suffer for the ills your father has caused me." Was his calm reply.  
  
Lex didn't bother to inform this mad man that he had nothing to do with what had happened to the man's daughter, he knew it would be useless at this point. "And how do you plan to do that?" Lex asked.  
  
"With this." Lucien answered with a smile, bring his hand out from behind his back. "You can find anything if you know the right places to look. And believe me, I looked." He looked ponderously at the capped needle he had in his left hand. "You know, I know a lot about you, Mr. Luthor. I know about your, shall we say, rather shady past here in Metropolis. I know all about Club Zero." He paused and laughed. "I even know what really happened, not what was printed in the newspapers or what you told that dirty cop." Lex's eyes widened a bit at this revelation.  
  
"And?" Lex prodded, wanting for him to get to the point.  
  
"And I've decided that I don't want to kill you." Lex wanted to feel relieved, but the sight of the needle in the man's hand wouldn't allow him to. "In fact, who knows? I may even let you go in a few weeks."  
  
"What are you going to do with that?" Lex asked, indicating the needle with a nod of his head.  
  
"This?" Lucien asked, holding up the needle to his face for further inspection. "Well this is Heroin. I bought it a few hours ago with the money I stole from your wallet. I'm assured that it's the really good stuff, but I'm afraid one never knows. As for what I'm going to do with it, I'm going to give it to you."  
  
"Why?" Lex managed to choke out in his shock.  
  
"Because I know how much you pride yourself on being able to kick all your drug habits in the last two years. I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you. You have my grudging respect for that at least, you really do." He paused again, letting his words sink in. "But unfortunately, I want to see you weak. I want to see you suffer. I want to see you beg me for your next fix. I want to see all that cool control and resolve crumble underneath my hands. I want to see you pay." Before Lex could say another word, Lucien uncuffed his right arm and stuck the needle into him, pumping it's contents into his system. After Lucien pulled the syringe out, Lex's arm dropped off the chair arm, blood welling up from the point of entry. Lex looked down in shock at what had been done to him. Then, suddenly, the feeling set in. The wonderful feeling or peacefulness and euphoria that he had been depriving himself for so long. He licked his lips as his mouth dried. 'Oh God,' Lex thought to himself. 'Not again, I can't go through losing this again.' He gave a sigh as his head dropped to his chest.  
  
"Wait!" Lucien yelled at him. "Wake up, damn you! Don't do this to me!" Lucien panicked. 'Did I give him too much? Is this what an overdose looks like? Oh God, what have I done?' He tried shaking Lex's shoulder, but all Lex did was moan softly. "Damn it!" Lucien yelled, shaking Lex's shoulders. He got a bleary look from him in return. "That's right, stay awake!" He told him firmly. "Oh man, I gotta go get some help." At that, he ran off, leaving Lex on his own once more.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: I know, I know. You all hate cliffhangers, right? Well, I had to leave some drama to make you want to read the next chapter, didn't I? The story is beginning to come to a close anyway, so don't worry. Hope you're not too mad at me, the next part should be up in a few days. Promise! 


	8. Chapter Eight

AThe Sins of the Father Part VIII  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: Maybe if I just close my eyes tight and wish real hard....  
  
Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late.  
  
Characters: Lex primarily, with a little Clark, Chloe, Pete!, Jonathan, and Martha thrown in for fun. Also starring Lucien Caldwell, my very own little evil OFC.  
  
Author's Note: Yea!! Cliffhanger resolution chapters! Don't you just love 'em? I know I do! Again, thank you to everyone who had given me such great reviews! They really do keep me from making you wait too long to read new chapters after the really mean cluffhangers that I enjoy writing so much. Also, this chapter includes a minor Pete/Chloe dynamic. Don't worry though, I'm still a proud Chlexer, through and through.  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence, language, and drug usage.  
  
Chapter Eight  
  
Absolute bliss. There were no other words to describe it. Lex hadn't felt this good in two years. Ever since he was forced to kick all the bad habits he had required over 19 years of life. All he wanted to do right now was to nod off and drift away, but he wouldn't let himself. Biting his split lip hard, he groaned in pain and came crashing back into reality. 'I've got to get out of here while that maniac is away,' He thought, forcing his brain to be clear. He knew it wouldn't be long before his mind would become clouded and he wouldn't be able to do much of anything except sit there. He slowly flexed his right arm, noticing in astonishment that Lucien had left it uncuffed in his haste. 'Hurry, you fool! He'll most certainly be back soon! This could be your only chance!' He turned and looked at his other hand with a grimace. It was still handcuffed. 'Oh man, I really hate doing this.' In all his altercations with the Metropolis P.D., Lex had been handcuffed quite a few times. He even had experience with getting out of them if the opportunity was required. It usually wasn't. His father usually had him released only minutes after his arrival at the police station. Every once and awhile though he would escape from the police and take his chances. Besides, it was fun. Reaching over to his still-handcuffed hand, Lex silently thanked the heroin that was currently running through his veins. 'Maybe it won't hurt as much as it usually does. One can always hope.' After a count, Lex wrenched his thumb out of joint with a grunt and ever so slowly inched his way out of the cuff. 'Shit, that hurt!' He silently yelled at himself. Some still clear part of his mind informed him that now was the time to move and be as silent as he possibly could. Lex stood up slowly, and made his way to the door on rather unsteady feet, cradling his dislocated thumb in his other hand. As he reached the door, he thanked his captor's haste once more as he found it unlocked. Stepping outside, he took a deep breath in the early evening air. It wasn't dark yet, but it soon would be and Lex needed to get to a phone, a car, anything. He stopped what he was doing and suddenly turned around, certain that Lucien was back and that he would find him and lock him back up in any minute. His eyes frantically searched the area, but he found no trace of him nor of the limo they had traveled in. Some distant part of his mind reminded him that extreme paranoia was just one of the many effects of heroin usage. Lex had to chuckle at that. After all, is it really paranoia when someone is really after you?  
  
As Martha Kent set the kitchen table, she mused on how happy she would normally be if they had this many guests for dinner. But the reality of why her house was full for the night intruded on that happy dream. Lex Luthor had been kidnaped, taken right from her house, hours ago. They had called the police, told them everything they knew, but there was still no word from anyone. She frowned at that. 'Certainly there should have been word from Lex's father? Wouldn't he want to know exactly what happened?' Martha was filled with a sinking feeling after a few moments. 'I'll bet the bastard doesn't even know that his only son's been kidnaped. In fact, he probably doesn't even care.' She put on a determined face. 'Well I care. My family and our friends care. I know we'll find Lex. We have to.'  
  
Chloe took a precious moment to rub her eyes. 'Staring at a computer screen all afternoon was wearing is a person.' She rationalized to herself for her slight break. 'Not to mention staring at a computer screen all afternoon stressed into finding something that just wasn't there.' Chloe was filled with a sickening dread at that thought. 'What if I can't find him? What if none of us can find him? What will happen then? I'll never be able to tell him how I feel about him.' Feeling her eyes beginning to well up, she rubbed them furiously. 'You will NOT cry, Chloe Sullivan!' She yelled at herself. 'You will sit there on that computer all night if need be. You WILL find him.'  
  
'Did Chloe almost cry?' Pete wondered to himself after watching her rub her eyes. The more and more he thought about it, the more and more he feared that Chloe had indeed developed a crush on Lex Luthor. Pete couldn't help be disgusted by this. 'Doesn't she know that he is bad news? Why are they surprised that someone would want to kidnap and kill him? I would!' Pete blanched at this realization. He immediately lowered his head and stared down at his feet. 'This can't all be about Luthor.' He thought to himself. He considered himself a pretty intelligent and observant guy when it came to most things, and yet he didn't even recognize the tell-tale signs of jealousy he found in himself. 'This isn't about Luthor.' He admitted to himself slowly. 'This is about how you feel about Chloe. You're jealous, admit it.' He suddenly stood up and went outside on the porch, needing some time alone to himself to think.  
  
Lex fought the urge to curl up on the ground and sleep as he made his way to where he hoped he head noise. After a handful of slow steps, he came upon a long alleyway. He fought off the heroin's depressing affects as he noticed there was not a car in sight. A wave of depression and drowsiness came over him again, and he sat down in the middle of the road. 'Just a few moments rest, then I'll get back up and move again. Just a few minutes...'  
  
Elaine Nightweather was lost. She wasn't exactly sure just how it had happened, one minute she was on her way to an engagement party for her daughter downtown, the next... She was currently driving aimlessly around what definitely looked like one of the more run down sections of town. She was so intent on the fact that she was lost that she nearly ran over something in the road. Slamming on her breaks, Elaine amended her statement in shock. She hadn't almost hit something in the road, she had almost hit someone. Putting her car in park, she quickly rushed out to the person she had nearly hit with her large Buick Riviera moments before. It was a young bald man curled up on his side, laying in the middle of the road. What shocked her most about this strange scene was that the man seemed to be well dressed, and had a lot of blood covering his mouth and chin. "Young man, are you alright?" she called to him, gently laying a hand on his shoulder. The man opened his eyes and looked at her.  
  
"Please help me." he said slowly.  
  
"Of course I'll help you. What do you want me to do?" Elaine asked warily. 'She had seen this man before. Where was it?'  
  
"I-I need to get to Smallville. Kent household..." That seemed to be all he could manage to say for right now as he became silent again. 'Smallville,' she thought. A sudden glimpse of insight passed through her mind. 'Smallville, that's where everyone says Lionel Luthor's son was sent to! This is him! Oh my God, I almost hit Lionel Luthor's only son with my car!' Elaine, needing to stop and take a breath, backed away from Lex's still form. As soon as she did, however, he groaned softly. "Smallville," he whispered again. Looking around, Elaine put an arm under the young Luthor's shoulder and tried to pull him into a sitting position at least. She grunted under his weight. She sighed.  
  
"Now I don't know what's happened to you, and frankly I don't care. But if you want me to take you to Smallville, and I will, you need to get up and get into the car. I'm not as young as I used to be." She said, hoping her words got through. Lex nodded briefly, and with her assistance, he made it into the passenger seat of her car. She reached over and buckled his seatbelt since he seemed to be unable, closed the passenger-side door, and went around to get into the driver's seat. As soon as she did, she turned to look at the young man again. He seemed very pale and was breathing very shallowly. 'Whatever's wrong with him, it looks like I need to get him to Smallville fast.' She put the car back into drive and made her way in what she hoped was the direction of something she would recognize.  
  
Lucien was worried. He had left only moments ago, but already he was having second doubts on leaving Luthor alone when he may be having an overdose right where he left him. Besides, where the hell was he going to find a doctor that he could get to come with him to a warehouse in the middle of a less than prosperous section of Metropolis on his word. He did think about calling an ambulance, to pick up Luthor. 'They aren't required to notify the police on their pick ups, are they?' After a few moments of agonizing over his decision, Lucien decided to go back and check on Luthor and to then call an ambulance. He knew that he would most likely be killed if Lex survived and remembered him, but no matter how much he wanted it, he wasn't a murderer. 'You are a coward.' A voice in his head berated him. 'Do you know what Luthor will do to you once he's well again? Think, you idiot! Think about all the people who have crossed the Luthor's only to never be heard from ever again. That will be you if you don't do something!' Lucien pondered over this. He had indeed heard the stories of how people had a tendency to disappear after angering Lionel Luthor. Lucien didn't even want to imagine what might be done to him if Lionel found out that he had kidnaped and drugged his only son. 'Do I really have any other choice?' Lucien asked himself. 'One of us will probably die, and I'd rather it be him than me any day of the week.' He turned the car around and headed back to the warehouse to do what he had to do.  
  
Needless to say, he was a bit unnerved to find the warehouse empty. He quickly ran over to the chair where he had kept Lex, not believing what he was seeing. 'He was overdosing! He was chained up! There is no way he could have escaped! How could this have happened?!' He suddenly noticed the uncuffed handcuff on the left side of the chair. He closed his eyes, cursing himself. 'You idiot! You left one of the handcuffs unlocked! No wonder he escaped! And how the hell do you know what a person looks like when they're overdosing! God you have been so stupid!' "He can't have gotten far, he has to be around here somewhere." Lucien said outloud, rushing toward the door. 'Where would he have gone, where would he have gone?' Lucien repeated silently to himself. He rushed toward the road he came in on, thinking that if Lex was aware of his surroundings at all he would have tried to find help there. Unfortunately, the road was deserted upon his arrival. "Damn it!" he yelled, throwing his hands down in frustration. His eyes grew wide, and the color drained out of his face in a sudden epiphany. "I am a dead man." he whispered.  
  
TBC  
  
A/N: You like? Notice I didn't end it on a huge cliffhanger like I did the last few chapters. I decided I've tortured you poor people enough. That doesn't mean that all is well though. I still have a few good ideas up my sleeve for the next chapter, evil grin , which should be up in a few days. Thank you so much for reading, please post your reviews and tell me what you think of my story so far. As this is my first Smallville fic, I still have my apprehensions about writing another story. Please review!! 


	9. Chapter Nine

The Sins of the Father Part IX The Conclusion  
  
A Smallville Story By Merrie Thomas  
  
Disclaimer: If I did own anything from Smallville, you would see my name in the credits, now wouldn't you? Alas, I've checked and it's not there.  
  
Summary: Lex has been targeted by an assassin, and it's up to Clark to save him before it's too late.  
  
Characters: Any and all, including Pete! and Lucien Caldwell, my very own evil, crazy, frightened, and frustrated OFC. Also including Elaine Nightweather, a minor character that does a not so minor thing.  
  
Author's Note: First of all, I am so VERY SORRY that this took so long to post! Getting ready for college is hell on your fanfic writing schedule, believe me. That aside, thank you again for your kind reviews!! They really do inspire me to write for all of you. This should be the last chapter by the way. So, thank you for reading, and I hope you liked my story!!  
  
Rating: This story is rated PG-13 For violence, language, and drug use.  
  
Chapter Nine  
  
"We're almost within city limits, where do you want me to go next?" Elaine turned to receive an answer from her passenger, Lex Luthor, only to find him passed out on the seat next to them. She frowned in slight worry. He hadn't been looking well in the last few hours and now he looked even worse. His complexion was that of rice paper and his forehead was beaded with sweat. Elaine didn't know what was happening to him, and she didn't like it. In fact, she would have pulled the car over right then and there to check on him if he hadn't seemed so insistent on getting to Smallville as quickly as they could. As it was, she was nearly within it's limits in only two hours instead of the usual three. It was a miracle that they hadn't been pulled over actually. Elaine briefly pondered over the fact that maybe they hadn't been pulled over due to the now unconscious passenger next to her. She frowned and looked back to the road, noticing the 'Welcome to Smallville, Meteor capital of the world' sign. She pulled the car over to the side of the road and struggled to bring Lex back into consciousness. "Excuse me?" she called out, seeing his eyes open wearily. "I'm sorry to wake you, but we're here in Smallville and I need directions on where to go next."  
  
"It's alright," Lex said slowly. "I'm not mad. It's probably a good thing that you woke me up as well." Elaine wondered what he meant by that, but Lex didn't elaborate. He merely gave her the directions she needed and collapsed back against the seat. He didn't fall asleep again, but he looked like he needed it. Elaine only hoped that whoever this Clark Kent was, he would be able to help the young man beside her.  
  
Jonathan Kent couldn't help but marvel over the changes that had come over his household in the hours since Lex had been taken. 'These teenagers can certainly come together in a crisis,' he thought, watching them work on finding Lex. Unfortunately though, they had had little luck in that regard. It pained him to even think it, but Jonathan was beginning to wonder over the younger Luthor's safety. 'Who can tell what that mad man who took him will do to him?' Once again, he sent up a silent prayer for Lex's safety. Jonathan then let out a small, bitter laugh. 'It's ironic, isn't it? I think I was just beginning to respect Lex, if not trust him enough to be around Clark, and something like this happens.' He glanced over to his son who was having an intense conversation with Chloe Sullivan. He briefly noticed a small spark between the two, but as soon as he witnessed it, it was gone. He used to think at one point that his son my fall in love with and marry Chloe one day, but that notion vanished when he stopped and looked at her. 'I hope she knows what she is doing,' he thought with a small frown. 'It doesn't take much to see that Chloe was genuinely worried over Lex, not that the rest of us aren't, it's more than that though. I think Chloe has a crush on him.' He glanced over at his wife and wondered if she had noticed the same. He chuckled at that. 'Of course she has. I have never known a woman as observant to what's around her than Martha.' In fact, she seemed to be noticing something right now. What was it? His eyes widened as he heard a car pull up out front. He and Martha rushed outside, hoping it was someone with news on Lex.  
  
"What do I do, what do I do?" Lucien repeated to himself over and over. Ever since Lex Luthor had escaped, he had been fearing for his life. He had abandoned the warehouse and relocated himself in a cheap hotel in the hopes of disappearing off of the face of the earth. He wasn't a complete fool. He knew that if he didn't get away now he could kiss his ass goodbye. There was no question on what would happen to him should he ever be found out by anyone working for the Luthor's. "Damn it!" he yelled at himself in a mixture of fear and frustration. "I should have never done it! I should have just left them all alone!" 'But what about Emily, you coward? What about her vengeance? What would she say if she knew that you were chickening out now?' "But I am a dead man. And there's no way I will ever be able to get close to Lex Luthor again. Besides, he knows me now. He'll have people searching for me, won't he?" There was no answer to that one.  
  
"We're here." Elaine said as she drove down the long driveway to the Kent's yellow farmhouse. She pulls to a stop in front of the house and turns to her side. "Do you need any help getting out?" She asked softly, again noticing his condition. "You should really get to a hospital, you know."  
  
"I know. Don't worry about me though. I'm sure there's at least a few people in there that have been worrying about me all night." He turned his eyes away from the farmhouse to meet Elaine's. "I don't know how to thank you for getting me out of there. If there is anything--" Elaine cut him off with a hand before he could say anything further.  
  
"There is no need, Mr. Luthor. I did what I felt was necessary. I'm sure you would have done the same, given the chance."  
  
"I'm glad you have such faith in me. Not many people would." he said, opening the car door. "I just realized something, I don't even know your name." He said, a little surprised.  
  
Elaine smiled. "You weren't meant to. Nice meeting you, Mr. Luthor. Take care of yourself."  
  
"Call me Lex." Was all he said before closing the car door. Elaine smiled and drove off, hoping she wasn't too late for the wedding.  
  
Once the woman had left, Lex turned back to the farmhouse. Slowly walking up to the front porch, he noticed movement inside. The front door opened, and Martha and Jonathan Kent stood before them, looking as if they couldn't believe their eyes. "Lex?" Martha called out. Lex wanted to say something, to at least acknowledge his presence, but he found he hadn't the strength. His eyes rolling up into the back of his head, Lex fell to the ground, slipping back into the arms of the waiting abyss.  
  
Seeing Lex fall, Martha and Jonathan immediately ran out to him. "Lex?" Martha called out. "Can you hear me?" Martha had taken some first aid training as result of living and working on a farm, and one glance at Lex told her many things. None of them were good. She turned to her husband. "Jonathan, we need to get him into the house right now." Jonathan nodded and turned to call his son. He nearly toppled over in shock as he noticed Clark was standing at his shoulder, looking down at Lex with a frown. "Clark! You scared me! We need to get Lex into the house right away!"  
  
"I heard." Clark said. He then leaned over and scooped his unconscious friend into his arms.  
  
"Oh my God, Lex!" Chloe shouted, on seeing Clark pick him up. "What's wrong with him? Is he breathing? Tell me he's breathing? Why are you carrying him? How did he get here?"  
  
Chloe would have gone on if not for a hand on her shoulder. She quickly turned around. It was Pete. "It's alright, Chlo. Lex will be alright. He's safe now."  
  
"I'm not entirely sure that's true," Martha whispered once Lex was safely placed on their couch.  
  
"What do you mean?" Chloe asked, worry lacing her words.  
  
Martha put a hand to Lex's face, noticing the blood there. She had seen split lips before, that wasn't what had her worried. What worried her was the fact that Lex's complexion was even paler than normal, and with how fair his complection was normally, that was saying a lot. Martha briefly considered that Lex must have been a red-head when he had hair. Only in red heads had she ever seen a complexion normally that pale. She put a hand to his eye lids and slowly raised them. She wasn't surprised to see that his pupils were both fixed and dilated. She then turned and looked at both of his arms, gasping as he saw his black and blue hand. "What is it, Martha?" Jonathan asked over her shoulder.  
  
"I think his thumb is broken or at least dislocated." She said, indicating his right hand. "That's not what has me worried though," she whispered, glancing around the room to make sure no one else overheard. She turned over Lex's other arm and showed him the track marks. "This worries me though. I'm afraid he might be drugged."  
  
"Drugged?" Jonathan whispered back, anger evident in his voice.  
  
"Yes. I don't know a lot about drug effects Jonathan, but I'm worried he might be overdosing right now."  
  
"Then we need to get him to a hospital!" Jonathan shouted, forgetting himself.  
  
"What?" Chloe asked, coming over to Lex's side. She gasped as she saw him up close for the first time, placing a shaking hand on his bloodied lip. "Oh, my God. What's wrong with him? Why is he unconscious?"  
  
Martha sighed, and sent a small glare at her husband. Once he was suitably chastened, she turned back to Chloe. "I suppose you'll all want to hear this, so you might as well come here. Hurry though, time is of the essence." She waited a minute as Pete and Clark moved in beside Chloe. "I'm afraid Lex has been drugged."  
  
"Drugged? Drugged with what?" Clark interrupted.  
  
"I'm not sure, it could be anything. That's not all though. He could be overdosing for all I know!" Martha shouted, more than a little fear in her voice.  
  
"Lex probably does, Mom." Clark whispered, sending up a small prayer that his friend would be alright. He didn't like speaking ill of Lex, especially not at a time like this, but he felt he had to. "I think Lex used to do drugs back in Metropolis."  
  
"That would explain the marks I found." Martha said with a frown.  
  
"What marks?" Pete asked, leaning in to get a closer look.  
  
Martha sighed. She didn't feel right about showing them what Lex would not want shown, but she could see he had no choice. She picked up his forearm and showed them the marks she had found. Chloe gasped.  
  
"He must have done a lot drugs for there to still be marks now." She whispered, almost to herself. "Look at this," she said, pointing to the most recent mark. "This one looks new. What has that bastard done to him?"  
  
"I'm not sure, Chloe. We need to wake Lex up to be sure. Help me?" Martha turned to Lex and began gently shaking his shoulder. "Lex, we need to you wake up. Lex?" Her shaking grew more insistent, but it was no use. "He's not waking up." she said to her audience, her face pale.  
  
Chloe moved forward and said, "Let me give it a try." Martha nodded and moved out of the way. Chloe took a deep breath and shouted, "ALEXANDER JOESPH LUTHOR! WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!!!!" Surprisingly enough, Lex came to suddenly, and nearly fell off of the couch in his shock.  
  
"Ug, why are you shouting at me?" He groaned, putting a hand on his face.  
  
Chloe couldn't say anything for the moment, she was too embarrassed and shocked by what she had done. She turned to her two friends who were staring at her in shock as well. 'I'll bet they didn't even know Lex's real name was Alexander.' She thought, her brain not fully aware that Lex was awake and speaking with her.  
  
"Chloe? How did you know Lex's real name was Alexander? I didn't even know that." Clark said, still looking at her in shock. He turned to Pete, who seemed to be wondering the same thing. "Did you know that Pete?" Clark asked his friend. Pete shook his head.  
  
"Yes, yes. My real name is Alexander. There, are you happy now?" Lex grumbled from the couch, bringing their attention back to him.  
  
"I must say, I never knew that either, Alexander." Martha said, trying to lighten the mood. "But that's beside the point. We need to know what drugs the man who kidnaped you gave you."  
  
"Oh, it has to be heroin." Lex said with a frown. "I wouldn't be feeling this depressed otherwise." Martha decided to ignore that comment for the time being. "Don't worry though, hopefully it's almost out of my system by now. I know because I can think clearly again."  
  
Martha sighed in relief, her hands shaking a bit. "Thank God." After a moment, she continued. "That's good to know, Lex. I wasn't sure if you were overdosing or not."  
  
"Oh it was close, believe me. If that bastard had given me any more, I would have been." Lex said in a small voice.  
  
"How did you escape then, if you were nearly overdosing?" Clark asked.  
  
"The stupid bastard left my one arm uncuffed after he gave me the heroin. I simply dislocated my thumb to get the other handcuff of and I made my way out of there."  
  
"You were handcuffed?" Jonathan asked in a sick voice.  
  
"It's no big deal. I've been handcuffed before. How do you think I learned how to dislocate my thumb?" Lex was feeling surprisingly open and chatty this evening. He frowned at that, but laid it off on the heroin.  
  
The room grew silent at this. To tell the truth, no one really knew what to say next. Even Chloe still seemed a little lost for words. Seeming to notice their distress, Lex spoke up. "I don't know how I can ever thank you for worrying about me."  
  
"But we weren't able to find you!" Chloe interrupted. "If you hadn't escaped, you could have been--" Chloe's eyes widened and she calmly walked out the door and onto the front porch, unable to stay any longer.  
  
After a few moments, Clark spoke up. "I'll go out and talk to her." he said, making his way to the front door. He stopped when he heard Lex's voice.  
  
"Clark, stop." Lex called out, sitting up on the couch. "This is my fault. I'll go talk to her." Taking a deep breath, Lex stood up on his feet and made his way out the front door ahead of Clark.  
  
Clark began to protest, but was interrupted. "Let him be, Clark." Martha said to him. "They have a lot to talk about." Realization alighting on his face, Clark slowly nodded and came back into the living room. He turned to look at Pete and couldn't help but wince at the brief look of sadness that crossed across his face.  
  
"Come on, Pete." Clark said, putting a hand around his friend's shoulder. "Let's go into the kitchen and get something to eat."  
  
Pete sighed, but nodded. "Alright Clark. I just hope she knows what she's doing."  
  
"Me too, Pete. Me too."  
  
'God, how could I have been so stupid?' Chloe berated herself silently. 'I nearly broke down right there in front of him. I can hold my emotions in better than that, can't I? I'm Chloe Sullivan for pete's sake! Not Lana Lang!' Chloe paused a moment, considering. 'How the hell did this happen? One minute I'm fine, lusting after Clark, the next I'm head over heels for none other than Lex Luthor! When did this happen? Where was I?'  
  
"I'm not sure when it happened, but I know you must have been somewhere with me." A voice cut through her thoughts. Chloe turned around quickly, her eyes wide and her mouth gaping.  
  
"Oh God, did I say that outloud?" Chloe wanted to curl up and die, but she sniffed and held her ground, hoping Lex wouldn't be able to see her blush in the dark.  
  
"You did indeed, Chloe." Lex said, granting her a small smile, wincing at his exercised his split lip.  
  
Chloe smirked, thinking his gesture would have been more meaningful if he didn't look like a crazed vampire with the blood from his lip still on his chin.  
  
"What are you smirking about?" Lex asked, confused.  
  
"You look like a vampire." Chloe said, glad for the opportunity to talk about something besides the supposedly inner monologue that he had just overheard.  
  
"I what?" A confused look passed across his face before he realized what she was talking about. "Yes, I suppose I do look rather dreadful, don't I?"  
  
"Just a little. We'll have to get you cleaned up." Chloe smiled, but her smile dropped after a few seconds. "Lex, are you ok? I mean, really ok?" She paused again, considering how much to say. "I was really worried about you." She said finally.  
  
"I'm ok Chloe. I've been through worse, believe me." He looked long and hard at her before noticing something. "Do you want to go and sit down? After everything that has happened today, my legs aren't feeling as steady as they should be right about now.  
  
"Oh! I'm sorry! Yes, we can go and sit on the porch swing!" Chloe said, leading the way.  
  
After they were seated, Lex sighed. "Chloe, I want to be honest with you."  
  
At this, Chloe tried to keep a straight face, but inwardly she was reeling. 'Oh God, here it comes.  
  
Lex continued, somewhat unaware of her inner conflict. "Of all the people that I could have thought about today when I was kidnaped, the only person I could think about getting back to was you."  
  
Chloe didn't know what to say. She just sat there in stunned silence, barely breathing. Lex went on. "I'm sorry if this complicates things, and I'll understand if you want nothing to do with me, but I had to tell you. Today has been a day of re-evaluations. Re-evaluations of myself, and of how I want to spend the rest of my life. I sat there, in that awful empty warehouse, chained to that goddamned chair, and I knew I had to tell you how I felt about you." Chloe started to say something, but Lex stopped her with a raised hand. "Please, let me finish. I need to do this. I'm not good at sharing my feelings, so if I don't do this now, I might never be able to again. I just wanted to let you know that I care for you." He paused and took a breath. "That's all, I've said my piece."  
  
"So this means I can talk now?" Chloe asked. Lex nodded. "Good. Now I'm not sure when it happened, but I began to care for you as well, Lex. I've never pursued it because I worried about how my friends and family might view the two of us together." Lex started to protest, but Chloe went on. "Don't tell me it hasn't crossed your mind. My father is your boss, you're a billionaire and I'm in high school, not to mention the fact that you're at least five years older than I am. All of these things have stayed my hand. But today, when you were...well, when you were taken, I had some time to do some re-evaluating as well. What I came up with was this: I couldn't stand the fact that you might die not knowing how I felt for you. I simply couldn't stand it."  
  
"So where do we go from here?" Lex asked, casting his eyes off into the distance.  
  
"How about we go into the house, get your face cleaned up and your thumb bandaged, and we'll just have to see."  
  
"That sounds like a plan to me. Shall we?" Lex asked, standing and offering Chloe his uninjured hand.  
  
"We shall. We shall indeed." Chloe said with a smile, taking the proffered hand. The truth was, she had no idea where to go next, but as long as she had Lex beside her, it didn't matter.  
  
The End  
  
A/N: It's done, it's done! does happy dance Goodness gracious people. I am horrible at finishing stories, but yet, thanks to your reviews pushing me on, I did it! Thank you SO VERY much for reading!! You truly make my day. I hope you liked my story, I'm kinda wondering over the ending. Also, Lex and Chloe may be a bit OC, but they were feeling retrospective and so was I, so that's my excuse. Anyway, that's all she wrote. Literally. Well, until the sequel at least. I was nice and made this ending not to TBC, but this is far the last you'll hear from me. Oh, and not everything well be smooth sailing for our favorite couple. I can't wait. evil grin PS. The sequel will be called Downward Spiral. That just implies that everything will turn out just fine, doesn't it? hee hee hee I love drama. 


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